Canadian Polemic

No, I'm not talking about Canada. The first results from Iraq's parliamentary elections were published today, giving the combined forces of the Shiites and the Kurds just under the 2/3 majority needed to form a government. They won a combined total of 181 of the legislature's 275 seats. This means that in order for a government to function, these two groups (both of which were oppressed under Saddam Hussein's regime) will have to collaborate with other elected groups, including the Sunnis, who were favoured under Hussein's regime.

Now, whether or not one agrees with the invasion of Iraq (I personally tend to think that the notion of dealing with Mr Hussein was dealt with very poorly), one must concede the value in the country's latest elections. Iraq's nascent democracy certainly isn't perfect, and it cannot be seen as an easy cure for the country's struggles, but I think it's valuable that the democratic experiment is well underway. It's good for people to be voting, it's good for all groups (Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds) to be represented together in the parliament. Hopefully, the new Iraqi coalition government includes the Sunnis and works as a national unity government - it seems to me that that may help and quiet the insurgency a little. Everyone should be involved in the nature's future, and a coalition government may be the best way to accomplish that. Different interests will be taken into account, and parties may moderate their positions slightly in order to make progress. A friend of mine who hails from Iraq doesn't have much faith in his country's new democracy - I hope that a successful minority government can prove him wrong, and that it doesn't descend into bickering, chaos and new elections. Cross your fingers.

GIVE-ME-A-BREAK-DATE: This is really not a front page story, if a story at all. Now this is a bit of media bias, methinks - shame on the Globe for printing it. Harper's been at it for 6 weeks - so what if he wants the last weekend to be a little quieter?