What or whom exactly are the Iraqis voting for? Do they even know?

I just wonder, all the emphasis on how many will vote, and the idea that after the elections, somehow, everything will be peaceful & happy.

They will write their own constitution, be "free and democratic", etc... but, who's going to enforce it!

But seriously, what are they voting on? When the votes are counted, is it only to count the number of votes? Or to actually elect a government (I think)?

Beats me! Its all good for Bush- thats all we care about

Like a broken recorder....its all Bush's fault...

Nice, dgtempe.

IMHO, I don't think anyone is advocating that things will be 'rosey and peachykeen' in Iraq after the elections. I have no doubts that Zarqawi, and the ex-Baathists, will renew and double his efforts to disrupt the continuing democratic process in Iraq. The free Iraqi elections were simply the first steps toward an independent and democratic Iraq. Whether 'democracy' remains intact is yet to be seen. Time will only tell and it will be the Iraqis who will ultimately decide the fate of 'democracy' within Iraq.

Despite irregularities, despite the continued downplaying of this historic event, and despite 'this and that', the fact remains that the Iraqis freely voted for their leaders, despite being under the threat of death from Zarqawi's terrorist and insurgent groups. These leaders will go on to establish and write their own Constitution. Who will enforce it? Obviously they will. As I mentioned, 'democracy' in Iraq will survive as long as the Iraqi people so deem it to do so. In a year, once the Iraqi Constitution is established, written, and ratified, the Iraqi people will then vote again for a permanent representitive government.

The road will be filled with many bumps and obstacles. The difficult part will be transforming, rebuilding, and uniting the country into a lasting democratic country. They will further the growth of political rights, as well as civil liberties, something that is absent in most Arab countiries in the region. It will be up to the US, and other nations willing to aid Iraq, to continue aiding and helping Iraq during their difficult transition and process to democracy. They have taken the first step of many difficult ones. I applaud their efforts and determination. It now ultimately rests upon their shoulders to determine the lasting success of this process.




seekerof

[edit on 30-1-2005 by Seekerof]

Originally posted by CyberKat
But seriously, what are they voting on? When the votes are counted, is it only to count the number of votes? Or to actually elect a government (I think)

They are voting for candidates to send to a national assembly. The assembly will write up something like a constitution. I don't think that they are electing an interim government, I think that the one that is in place now stays in place, not entirely sure about that tho.

THe interesting thing is that they aren't electing regional/district representatives, its a wide open national election. They can also vote for a party, rather than a group of individuals, in which case what apparently happens is that the party, based on the percentage of the vote it gets, gets to send a certain proportion of the its individual candidates (going top down from a pre-pared list) to the assembly.

There is also a requirement that something liek 24 percent of the representatives sent to the assembly must be women, so each party has a set of women candidates that its also supporting.

It is quite amazing how quickly people will forget the lessons of the past. Even with a an unconditional surrender in Germany a democracy did not happen overnight. Nor in Japan. Yet people expect this to be an overnight thing. The fact that the Iraqi people voted in huge numbers as free citizens of thier republic says volumes. The fact that women voted speaks even more to the core changes that are transforming Iraq. The fact that the new assembly will procede to work on a constitution will be revolutionary.

We now have two established democracies in the Middle East, Turkey and Isreal. We also now have two flegling Democracies in the works. While we may, will, and have disagreed about the means we took to get to this point, it transends mere matierla benifit to Bush. Or Kerry for that matter had he been elected. The global war on terrorism will not be won by killing them one at a time. It will be won by changing the fundemental systems that breed such terror. The Middle East was watching with great interest and democracy of this type is highly infective.

Originally posted by Seekerof
Like a broken recorder....its all Bush's fault...

Nice, dgtempe.

IMHO, I don't think anyone is advocating that things will be 'rosey and peachykeen' in Iraq after the elections.








seekerof

[edit on 30-1-2005 by Seekerof]

You must tune in to Fox or your radio stations. They claim a huge victory for the Bushman. Totally not so. They voted, thats about it.

And as the typical good lil' distractor that you are, dgtempe, you have been relying on Al Jahzeera, CNN, and the like, too long.

And as much as you obviously hate to admit it, it was a great day for Bush, and for Freedom. Bet.


seekerof

Originally posted by FredT
We now have two established democracies in the Middle East, Turkey and Isreal.

Both born out of war, at least unequivocably with the regime change in the ottoman empire. And I am sure that people in the days of WWI were looking at the whole thing as anglo jingoism and adventurism and the enforcing of western culture onto an eastern society. Be a strange world certainly if the Ottomans were still around. Heck the Kaiser too.

They voted, thats about it.

I cannot see how that in itself is not a 'victory' for Bush. Its a bigger victory for them and a lot of other things, but a lot of people were absolutely convinced that the elections simply couldn't take place in the first place. No one knows the results of the elections yet, and it can still go very very bad, but the mere fact that they were held is a 'check' in the 'pretty good' column.

They voted for representatives via a party-list system to the nation assembly whose job is to write a new permanent constitution as well as choose a new prime minister. This fall there should be a vote on whether to ratify the constitution they author and if it is accepted they'll be another election according to the constitution to choose representatives/officials for a new government under that constitution.

Almost every current democracy was born out of war including the most stable currently longest living on the planet. The US.

Originally posted by FredT
Almost every current democracy was born out of war including the most stable currently longest living on the planet. The US.

Be careful with your wording. I'm not too sure about the "stable" part as many have been speculating over another civil war here in the US due to the large gap between democratic and republican opinions. Certainly many democracies across the globe are not as split as we are.