Valgseieren til den sekulære blokken til tidligere statsminister Ayad Allawi er et håpefullt tegn for Iraks demokrati. Det var ikke den sittende regjering som vant, slik det pleier å være i den arabiske verden, det var et opposisjonsparti ledet av en sekulær shia, som fikk mange stemmer fra sunniene.

Det vitner i det minste om at valget i Irak foregikk rettferdig, og at det finnes en politisk prosess. Spørsmålet er om partiene greier å danne regjering, eller om det hele ender i krangel.

Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said Saturday his secular political alliance is open to bringing any of his rivals into a governing coalition that can restore Iraq’s place in the Arab and Muslim world.
Allawi’s Iraqiya bloc came out the top vote-getter in March 7 parliamentary elections, according to full results released Friday, edging out his chief rival, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who refused to accept the results and said he will challenge them.
«The Iraqi people have blessed the Iraqiya bloc by choosing it,» Allawi told a packed news conference Saturday at his headquarters. «We are open to all powers starting with the State of Law bloc of brother Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.»
Allawi’s Iraqiya coalition won 91 seats to 89 for al-Maliki’s State of Law bloc, riding a wave of support from Sunnis frustrated with the current regime that they say has incited sectarian tensions and is too closely aligned with neighboring Iran.
If Allawi’s coalition remains on top, it will get the first opportunity to form a parliamentary majority and Iraq’s next government, and complete his emergence from what once appeared to be the political graveyard.
But the results do not automatically mean that he will become the next prime minister, and the slim margin sets the stage for months of political wrangling.
Allawi seemed to waste no time, saying that he had already appointed someone from his coalition to begin negotiations with other political blocs.

Secular challenger hails Iraq election victory