The Iraqi Election: The results are in, now what?

Iraq's Parliamentary election results were announced Friday afternoon: Ayad Allawi's Iraqi National Movement garnered 91 Parliamentary seats, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law 89. The Iraqi National Movement seems to have carried the popular vote in addition to districts that apportioned the largest number of seats. Allawi is himself Shiite, but he successfully reached across community lines to Sunni leaders in the first significant cross-sectarian political shift, and campaigned explicitly on moving beyond sectarianism. Sunni turned out to vote in the largest numbers of any community, sending a very hopeful signal about their belief in political means to achieve their goals. It would be a terrible pity if maneuvering for power by the two Shi'ia bloc leaders disappoint their -- and other Iraqis' -- hopes.

Continue reading on Kori Schake’s blog at Foreign Policy…