Word: sistani
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Dates: during 2003-2003
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...agree on a process of choosing a new provisional government over the next six months, through a series of regional caucuses whose delegates would be chosen by the IGC and U.S.-appointed local councils. That's not good enough for Iraq's leading Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who has demanded that Iraqis be allowed to elect the government that determines their future. Bremer and the some members of the IGC counter that elections cannot be held before next summer because there are no voter rolls - and they also fear that direct elections will return a government dominated...
...Although some key Shiite leaders on the IGC have advocated compliance with Sistani's edict demanding elections, the Council majority has now backed the Bremer plan, potentially setting up a confrontation between the U.S. and important elements of the Shiite population. Bremer is hoping that Sistani can be placated on the grounds of the practicalities of organizing elections before next summer. But he's unlikely to be impressed, which could open the way for more militant Shiite groups to use it as a basis to challenge the process on the streets. The last thing Bremer needs is the opening...
...Bremer's initial plan was always dicey. Here's why: Shi'ite Muslims make up a majority in Iraq (60%), although under Saddam--a Sunni--they never had the power their numbers warranted. The Governing Council too has a Shi'ite majority. In the summer Ayatullah Ali Hussein al-Sistani issued a fatwa saying that any body drafting a constitution had to be elected, not appointed by the council. Al-Sistani, though Iranian by birth, is the most senior Shi'ite religious leader in Iraq. There was no chance that the council would openly oppose his will, and--because...
...there are three possible paths to an Iraqi provisional government, and each has problems. The easiest and worst would be to simply turn over authority to the current Governing Council, which has too many questionable Iraqi exiles like Ahmed Chalabi and too little input from the Grand Ayatullah Ali Sistani, the most powerful Shi'a cleric, or the general Sunni populace. The Bush Administration's chosen path is more responsible but too slow--write a new constitution, have a referendum on that constitution and then hold general elections. Colin Powell has set a six-month target for the constitution...
...there are three possible paths to an Iraqi provisional government, and each has problems. The easiest and worst would be to simply turn over authority to the current Governing Council, which has too many questionable Iraqi exiles like Ahmed Chalabi and too little input from the Grand Ayatullah Ali Sistani, the most powerful Shi?a cleric, or the general Sunni populace. The Bush Administration's chosen path is more responsible but too slow-write a new constitution, have a referendum on that constitution and then hold general elections. Colin Powell has set a six-month target for the constitution...