Can the Interim Governing Council handle the political and moral standoff caused by Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani's demands for elections? Omayma Abdel-Latif seeks answers It was Abdel-Aziz Al-Hakim, the present chairman of the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) and the head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), who first voiced protest and concern over the US-approved plan to cede sovereignty to the Iraqis by June 2004. "There are some real problems facing this plan," Al-Hakim told reporters a few days after the plan was revealed. A day later, a statement issued by Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, Iraq's most senior religious authority, made the point more strongly. Al-Sistani effectively vetoed the plan: rejecting it outright and demanding radical alterations. When asked by reporters on Sunday about his exact objections to the plan, Al-Sistani's office emphasised two critical points. First, the governing principles of the transitional period should be determined by a public vote, rather than by the IGC, a body which does not enjoy legitimacy in the view of many Iraqis. Secondly, the members of a future legislative assembly should be selected in a way that is more representative of the Iraqi popular will. During the week, IGC members have been struggling to come to terms with Al-Sistani's demands, which ironically have also been reiterated by members of the IGC itself. The picture emerging is one of a sharply divided council. The council held two meetings to discuss the mechanisms of electing a temporary legislative body. Coming out of a meeting on Saturday, Muwafaq Al-Rube'i said that the IGC had made "historic decisions", though when asked by Al- Ahram Weekly to elaborate, his spokesperson declined to explain. SCIRI sources in the IGC told the Weekly that IGC members are divided in two camps; those who support a transfer of power to the Iraqis as soon as reasonably possible, and those who are in favour of establishing a legitimate political order in Iraq through elections, at a more measured pace. The IGC members were expected to meet with Paul Bremer, the US civil administrator in Iraq, as the Weekly went to print. According to the power transfer plan announced last month, a provisional government will be granted full sovereignty by June 2004. The implementation of this plan rests on a number of required actions by the IGC. The IGC must adopt a basic set of governing principles and create a national assembly or a transitional legislative assembly of representatives from Iraq's 18 provinces to select a provisional government. Ammar Al-Hakim, the second-in-command of the SCIRI, confirmed that there was near consensus among many Iraqi political forces and the religious establishment on the need to alter this plan which was initially welcomed by IGC members. "If we want to establish a democratic Iraq, there has to be a plan which secures the widest level of popular participation in the shaping of any political order," Al-Hakim told the Weekly in a telephone interview from Baghdad. He pointed out that one of Al-Sistani's primary concerns was the need to place emphasis on the "Islamic identity of the Iraqi people". He added that "the Grand Ayatollah believes that the Islamic identity should not be ignored in the making of a future political system." Al-Hakim and others acknowledged that there are indeed "many differences" among council members over how to handle the current impasse. There are several key obstacles which further complicate the task of the council. Foremost among these is the deteriorating security situation in many parts of the country. Sahib Al-Hakim, a London-based human rights activist, argued that security fears will make the demand for prompt elections an impossibility. "Election is of course an important criterion but it might not be feasible in light of the current situation. How can we ask people to go to the ballot boxes when there is a chance that they might be attacked?" he asked. But Adnan Al-Asady, spokesperson of Ibrahim Al- Gaafari, member of the IGC and head of the Da'wa Party, begs to differ. He argued that elections could still be held in a short period of time under the supervision of the United Nations. "There is a complete exclusion of the UN from the transitional process in Iraq, when it should have had a bigger say in any transfer of power." Ammar Al-Hakim agrees. He said that SCIRI believes Al-Sistani's demands should be seriously heeded and that the pretext of an unstable security situation is a flimsy one. "Unrest exists in certain areas of the country while the rest of Iraq is safe and stable ... elections could be held in those areas, while other mechanisms could be applied in the areas where security risks are high, to ensure that the will of the Iraqis will be represented." Al-Hakim explained that the four million Iraqis who live outside Iraq are registered in the migration departments and could also participate by casting their vote in Iraqi embassies. "Even if elections take a little longer, it will eventually produce a body whose legitimacy is not contested by the Iraqis," he said. Both Al-Asady and Ammar expressed suspicions about the US's intent to actually hold elections. While US officials reluctantly bowed to Al-Sistani's rejection of the plan, Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) officials continued to raise doubts about the feasibility of holding elections under the present circumstances. Some Iraqi observers attribute the American nervousness towards the prospect of elections to fears that an anti- American leadership will democratically take power. While Al-Sistani's intervention to put the brakes on implementing the plan embarrassed the civil administration and the IGC, it also served to raise fresh questions about the role to be played by religion in shaping the politics of Iraq. "We understand that the Americans are only worried about their interests in Iraq and don't care about democracy," explained Al- Hakim. "This is why the Grand Ayatollah's intervention was critical to preserve the rights of the Iraqi people to decide what type of government they want."
