Getting It
No political process and no political document are perfect (although we’re partial to the U.S. Constitution). But perfection isn’t necessary. The key to consensual government is that no election is the last one. No political point is irrevocable, but the equality of citizens before the law comes close. You can lose now, win later and be the loyal opposition in the meantime. There are people out there of a different race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender and/or political ideology who share your view on an individual issue if not on all issues.
No political process and no political document are perfect (although we’re partial to the U.S. Constitution). But perfection isn’t necessary. The key to consensual government is that no election is the last one. No political point is irrevocable, but the equality of citizens before the law comes close. You can lose now, win later and be the loyal opposition in the meantime. There are people out there of a different race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender and/or political ideology who share your view on an individual issue if not on all issues. And it is the essence of consensual government to marshal your political forces, look for allies and not burn bridges to create majorities that will change over time and change over issues.
These are the truths of American political life and have to be true in Iraq. And, it seems, the Iraqis are beginning to get it. The provisional government wasn’t supposed to last. The January election wasn’t supposed to happen. The Sunnis weren’t supposed to join the constitution committee. The constitution wasn’t supposed to be drafted. The Kurds were supposed to demand independence. The Shiites were supposed to demand Sharia law.
Or something.
But here we are and there it is. Now the doom and gloom guys are saying the referendum won’t happen or the draft will be defeated. Not likely. Sunni voters may refuse to ratify a document that isn’t perfect from their point of view, but they appear to have learned two crucial things: there aren’t enough of them to sink it if the Kurds and Shiites ally to pass it; and sitting out an election is a bad idea. If the referendum passes over Sunni objections, you can be sure they won’t sit out the vote for the permanent parliament in December; because it is there that the constitution will find expression in laws passed by elected representatives. Sunnis are currently registering to vote and in a recent poll, 85 percent said they planned to do so.
This is an extraordinarily rapid march toward a more open system. Frighteningly rapid because not everyone is committed to the bottom line, that regular elections have to become a regular feature of political life. There are clearly those in Iraq – most of whom are NOT Iraqis – who don’t want this to work. They are assassinating Iraqi judges and constitution committee members, and blowing up police, security forces and citizens in the street. They find dictatorial rule much more efficient and lucrative than democratic “horse trading” and they have the ability to make themselves a crucial factor.
The successes against the odds so far in Iraq are the first and best reason for the U.S. and its coalition partners to stay the course. The Iraqi people have proven that they will go to the polls under fire, but they and other potential voters in the Middle East need American assurance that the next election won’t be the last. “A practicing democracy based on tolerance and liberty,” is what the President told the Palestinians to build. The Iraqis have far surpassed the Palestinians in providing civic space and consensual government. They deserve our military support to provide security space as they go forward in a process that may ultimately transform the political map of the region.