Why are the Shiites so interested in direct elections?
Shiites form an estimated 60 percent of Iraq’s 25-million people but were suppressed for decades by the Sunni minority under Saddam Hussein. With Hussein deposed, Shiites want to translate their numbers into political power through the ballot. Q. What are the alternatives if caucuses are unacceptable and elections impossible? One possibility is to have the Iraqi Governing Council, which is supposed to disband June 30, run the country until new elections. But many Iraqis do not consider the council legitimate because it was appointed by the Americans. Some Iraqis have proposed expanding the council’s membership to give it more credibility. Q. Will Iraqis really be in charge after the June 30 hand-over? The United States says Iraq will be sovereign. The transitional assembly will elect an executive branch and appoint ministers, but most power will reside within the world’s largest U.S. Embassy, backed by U.S. troops. The fledgling Iraqi government will tackle little more than drawing up
