The Votes Are In

Of the 275 seats in the new Iraqi national assembly, 140 were won by the United Iraqi Alliance, the religion based Shi’ite party. 75 were won by the Kurds. The secular Shi’ite party, led by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi won 40 seats. The Sunni’s who make up 20% of Iraq’s population won 6 seats. Some agreement has been made by Sunni leaders to participate in the drafting of the nations constitution. If security can be ensured by the new government, the Sunni people can expect their numbers to be more representative by way of future elections. Under Iraq’s interim constitution, two-thirds of the national assembly must agree on a president and two vice presidents, who in turn will select the prime minister and Cabinet. This means the various groups will need to cooperate in their voting.