Iraq’s Electoral Commission on Sunday dismissed suggestions from Washington that minority Sunni Arabs could get extra seats in parliament after next month’s election to avoid Shiite domination if Sunnis fail to vote.
The New York Times said the U.S. government was exploring such a possibility to avoid the marginalization of Sunni Arabs, who make up about 20 percent of Iraq’s population and were dominant under Saddam Hussein.
Violence and disaffection in Sunni areas could mean many there do not vote in the Jan. 30 poll.
“This is the first time I am hearing of this. It hasn’t been discussed before at all,” said Farid Ayar, a member of the Electoral Commission and its spokesman. “It’s not realistic.”
“There is nothing like that in our rules and regulations. It would be in complete contravention of the electoral rules to do such a thing,” Ayar told Reuters, saying any U.S. or other interference in the running of the election was unacceptable.
The New York Times cited a Western diplomat as saying the possibility of granting some top Sunni vote-getters places in the 275-member legislature even if they did not secure seats through the ballot, had been raised with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the leading Shiite cleric.
The theory is that even some Shiite politicians are concerned that an exaggerated victory could backfire if it locks Sunni Arabs out of power, exacerbating violence in the country, where the insurgency is largely Sunni Arab-led.
Shiites make up about 60 percent of the population and are widely expected to come out on top. A coalition Sistani approves of is seen as a very strong contender, although there are over 100 other lists, including other Shiites, in the running.
Seats will be allocated by proportional representation.
'Who wins, wins'
The idea of adding Sunnis to the legislature after the election was acknowledged by U.S. officials as likely to be difficult to carry out, but they said it might be necessary to avoid Sunni estrangement, the Times said.
A spokesman at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad declined to comment and referred calls to the Electoral Commission.
Ayar was emphatic in dismissing such a possibility.
“Maybe they didn’t read the rules and regulations of the commission. ... The Americans are expressing their views and those aren’t always the same as the commission’s. But the commission is absolutely independent.
“It is not acceptable for anyone to interfere in our business. That will not be allowed to happen,” he said.
“Who wins, wins. That is the way it is. That is the way it will be in the election.”
White House spokesman Trent Duffy insisted it was up to the Iraqis, not Washington, to decide the rules of the election.
“The United States supports the Iraqi election commission in defining those rules. But it’s up to the Iraqi election commission to determine the rules,” Duffy said.
Leading Sunni Arab politicians have called for a delay of up to six months in the poll, arguing that violence concentrated mostly in Sunni areas means voters will not be able to go to the polls and the vote will not be free or fair.
While they are calling for a delay, dozens of Sunni religious and secular parties and coalitions have registered to stand in the election, now just five weeks away.
Ayar said he expected many of those parties to do well and said it was wrong to think Sunnis would be unable or too intimidated to go to the polls in many areas of the country.
“Who says they can’t vote in Sunni areas? Many of them are not dangerous,” he said. “I think Sunnis will have many seats in the parliament. They have many popular politicians. There’s no reason to think they won’t win seats.
“We can’t have a system where we just say 70 seats for Sunnis and 80 seats for Shiites, or whatever. That is not in the regulations.”
Discussion of Sunni roles in ministries
The Times said the White House was also talking to Iraqi leaders about guaranteeing Sunni Arabs a certain number of ministries or high-level jobs in the next Iraqi government if Sunni candidates fail to do well in the election.
There is, in theory, nothing to stop the next prime minister, who will be selected via the 275-seat assembly, from choosing a government that has more Sunni Arab members than is reflected in the popularity in the polls.
Iraq’s current interim government, under Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, has several Sunni Arab as well as Kurdish, Turkmen and Christian members. The president is also Sunni Arab.