The Iraqi election results....

....left Ali less than enthused.

Meanwhile the election results are to be announced today at 4 p.m. Baghdad time. High officials in the "Unified Coalition List" said that the "Independent Electoral Commission" has informed him that the Coalition list has got 60% of the votes (Arabic link). If that is true (and it seems so) then I must say my prediction about the results earlier was not accurate. The Coalition list and due to Sistani's blessings, the ignorance of Iraqis about parties other than the major religious and ethnic ones (due to difficult security that prevented those parties from running a proper campaign) and the fears each sect has that its votes get scattered seems to have drawn more votes towards the major parties. Also the limited participation of Sunnis contributed to this result.

The Kurdish Alliance seems to be next followed closely by Allawi's list. We still have to wait for the official results but I guess the order will be just like that.
Democracy is still very young in Iraq and it seems it needs some time and nurture to become more liberal and more representative.

Ali's lack of ardor pales in comparison to the negative assessment of Larry Johnson over at the Counterterrorism blog.

Ali's brothers, on the other hand, seem singularly enthralled by the results.

The results are for the best of Iraq and its future; Iraqis have put the corner stone for the state of law and constitution and have proved to the world how the region's nations are eager for freedom and how much they reject the concepts of violence and despotism that were imposed by fire and steel.

The ballot and the box have won and the purple fingers garnished the beautiful picture.

The high turnout in circumstances that were considered to be the most dangerous was like a candle that leads the road for the rest of freedom seeking people and gave lesson in courage and determination and reminds even those who lived their whole lives in democracies about the bravery of their founding fathers who struggled and sacrificed for the sake of their children's future and prosperity.

The winners are in front of a historic responsibility of drawing the future of Iraq and defining its new identity. Their load is heavy but the most important thing is that the people back them and back the writing of the permanent constitution.

I was so happy today while watching the results being displayed on TV although I didn't get the seat I dreamed of. Little parties like ours couldn't compete with the larger ones that own radio and TV networks and had their banners and posters filling the streets while I had to borrow from my friends to pay the 5000 $ registration fees of the party because the support we received for the party from our friends and supporters hasn't reached Baghdad till this moment because of some banking bureaucracy. All we had was 3000 $ to spend on advertising and publicity and managing all the party's affairs.

I think it's too early to tell what will happen. Keep in mind that this election decides the governing body that will construct the new constitution. There are more elections to come, and the Sunni will not be sitting out the future contests. The one thing we do know is that the experts are seldom right, and negativism never solved a single problem.