New York Times Editorial: Dangerous Games

New York Times Editorial: Dangerous Games
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: April 28, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/opinion/29thurs1.html?th&emc=th


By nearly all independent accounts, Iraq’s parliamentary elections last month were reasonably free and fair. Efforts now to manipulate the process — especially but not solely by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki — are an insult to Iraqi voters. They are also dangerous. The longer it takes to form a new government, and the more questions raised about the process, the easier it will be for extremists to exploit the uncertainty.

If this goes on for much longer, Iraq may not have a new government in place by the end of August when all American combat troops are due to withdraw. President Obama should stick to his deadline. Any sign of wavering will give Iraq’s leaders one more excuse not to take responsibility for their country.

Mr. Obama and his aides will have to use all of their waning influence to get the election back on track.

The March vote split largely along sectarian lines and confirmed the fierce struggle between a predominantly Shiite coalition led by Mr. Maliki and one led by Ayad Allawi, a former prime minister and secular Shiite who has become the standard-bearer for many Sunnis. Mr. Allawi’s coalition scored 91 seats in the new Parliament; Mr. Maliki, 89.

Mr. Maliki was not satisfied. He filed legal challenges claiming irregularities. And a special electoral court ordered the ballots recounted in Baghdad Province, where Mr. Maliki hopes to pick up additional Shiite votes. Kurdish parties, dissatisfied with their showing, also requested a recount in northern provinces, and the court is expected to rule shortly.

Recounts are a standard democratic tool, although we are not sure why one is needed. It is worrying. In the run-up to the election, Mr. Maliki proved far too adept at bullying Iraq’s fragile institutions.

The government’s election commission — which is overseeing the recount — has already raised serious doubts about its impartiality. Before the March vote, it disqualified scores of mostly Sunni candidates for alleged Baathist sympathies.

At the commission’s request, the special electoral court has also now disqualified one winning candidate on Mr. Allawi’s slate for the same reason. It is considering challenges to several more. Appeals are possible. Whether the balance between the two main slates changes or not, the maneuvering is certain to further erode Sunni confidence in government institutions.

We understand Mr. Allawi’s suspicions and frankly share them. But his call on Wednesday for a caretaker government, supervised by the international community, seems out of proportion to what has happened so far.

Mr. Allawi should be putting his energy into appealing the court’s disqualification of his candidate. And the Americans and the international community should be pressing the commission to conduct the recount in a completely impartial and transparent manner, with international observers, journalists and representatives of all of Iraq’s political parties fully monitoring the proceedings. The United Nations and the United States must be ready to speak out at any sign of fraud.

This process has already dragged on too long. Iraq has a lot of difficult issues to resolve. There is still no oil law. No plan for how to decide the future of the contested city of Kirkuk. It needs a new government that all Iraqis consider legitimate. If Mr. Maliki or any other politician allows their ambition to irreparably taint this election, the whole country will pay the price.