Ahmed Mukhtar reports from Baghdad on the formation of a "Shia list" for the upcoming Iraqi elections With less than two months to go before the election of a 275-seat assembly, Iraq's top Shia authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, is pulling Shia parties together to make sure that they dominate the new government. Sources close to Sistani say that he is determined to create a list of candidates that is representative of the whole Shia nation by including academics, tribal chiefs and those from minority backgrounds. The Shia parties participating in the current interim government faced a significant problem. As they sought to form a cross-party coalition with non-Shia entities, they had to acknowledge both Shia parties and other political bodies that were not, at that time, participating. The Dukan conference, held in Sulaimaniya in November, solved this problem for the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and the Al-Daawa Party as it freed them from any more coalition constraints with both the secular parties and the Sunni Islamic Party. Though the Kurds had also backed down on their promise to form a coalition with the Shia parties. "They told us through Barham Salim, the deputy prime minister, that they had different views on the role of religion and other issues," said Humam Hamoudi, SCIRI's political adviser. "They preferred to have a coalition after the election when the division of power is much clearer." Shia sources said that they found the task of drawing up a national list consisting of various political groups very daunting. It forced them to resort to a coalition of Shia parties including minorities such as the Kurdish Faili -- Turkoman Shia based in Mosul -- as well as the non- Muslim Mandian Sabeans. Since the endeavours to construct a national list of Sunni, Shia, Kurd and other minorities failed, Sistani had promoted the formation of a six-member independent committee, chaired by the famous Nuclear Scientist Hussein Al- Shahristani. The main obstacle for the new committee was how to appropriately divide the power between each party and assign priority to names. The next stumbling block was prerequisites for candidate nomination. Sources from SCIRI told Al-Ahram Weekly that the committee managed to reach a compromise and agree on a list of 200 names split between both politically affiliated and independent figures. The main parties were SCIRI, led by Abdul-Aziz Al-Hakim; the Al- Daawa Party, led by Ibrahim Al-Jaafari; the Islamic Daawa Party, an Iraqi chapter led by Abdul-Karim Al-Enzi; the Islamic Daawa Movement, headed by Ezzeddin Salim; and the political Shia Council, comprised of several parties. Yet some of the minor parties from the Shia Council were still not convinced, withdrawing their candidacy and demanding a new list. "We stopped negotiation on the coordinated list as we will have to omit figures which believe in the concept of Wilayat Al- Faqih (the authority of the clergy) and the Iranian concept of rule," said Hussein Al- Mussawi, a spokesman for the minor parties of the political Shia Council. A further objection was the allocation of such a predominantly large portion of seats to the SCIRI and Al- Daawa Party. However, according to a source who wished to remain anonymous, the Shia committee have managed to guarantee Ahmed Chalabi, the leader of the Iraqi National Congress, a seat. The source also stated that the division of seats will be as follows: 12 per cent for SCIRI; 10 per cent each for the Islamic Daawa Party, the Sadrist Movement, the Islamic Daawa Movement, and the Political Shia Council; six per cent each for the Shia Turkomans and the Shia Faili Kurds; three per cent each for the Islamic Action Party and the Islamic Fadhila Party; while the remaining 30 per cent would be reserved for independent figures, largely at Sistani's recommendation. Sistani, keen for such a large share of power to be allocated to independent figures, was quoted as saying: "if we have one, two or 10 from a political party, they will have a one-sided view. But if we bring 10 different independent figures, we will have 10 different views and as such the discussions will be enriched." In allocating priority to individuals, the source reported that the first four would be: Firstly, Sayid Ali Al-Hakim, Sistani's representative in Basrah; second, Sayid Abdul-Aziz Al-Hakim; third, a female figure still to be named; and finally, Ibrahim Al-Jaafari. The source concluded that "a committee, consisting of a representative from each of the participating parties, would be formed to run the coalition before and during the elections. The participant would abide by the coalition resolutions, which will be determined by voting, and he or she will have to abide by the authority of Sistani." In a mark of goodwill, the Sadrist Movement dropped this week their determination to boycott the elections, deciding to participate in the Shia list. The main challenge awaiting the Shia list now comes from the international community. It remains unclear as to how willing they are to accept a Shia-dominated government in Iraq. While some of Iraq's neighbours fear that a Shia victory could empower Shia minorities within their own countries, other states fear Iraq slipping into a religiously dominated state. Bayan Jabr, a SCIRI politician and former minister of housing and reconstruction, is keen to lay these fears to rest. While anticipating the Shia list winning the majority of votes he is adamant in ruling out the possibility of a Shia-dominated government establishing a religious system of control in Iraq. "The fears and concerns of some Iraqis and international and regional figures on this issue are baseless since we have already agreed on the main principles [of government] in that it will embrace Iraqis of all ethnic and sectarian colouring."
