Ayat Seestani calls for elections in Iraq

By: Samir Al-Haidari

HOLY CITY OF NAJAF, Iraq: Ayatullah Sayyid Seestani has voiced some reservations regarding the new plan for a political transition in Iraq in response to a couple of questions from the Washington Post.

The reservations - firstly, it is based on preparing the law of the Iraqi state, for the transitional period, through the Governing Council in conjunction with the occupying power - thus not providing it with legitimacy. For this (legitimacy) to be achieved it must be presented to representatives of the Iraqi people for approval.

Secondly, the mechanism in place to choose members of the Transitional Legislative Assembly does not guarantee the establishment of an assembly that truly represents the Iraqi people.

Therefore this mechanism must be replaced with one that guarantees the aforesaid, which is “elections”, so the Assembly will emanate from the desire of the Iraqi people and will represent them fairly without its legitimacy being tarnished in any way. Perhaps “elections” can be organized using rationing-cards and other supplements.

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