Editorial: What People Want From the Government

The difficulties following the Samarra shrine bombing require all political forces to unite. They need to (help) calm the crisis and create national unity to stop Iraq's enemies from pulling the country into sectarian war. They are attempting to stop the political process, which would cause chaos and instability. It would divert Iraq's anti-terror war to a war between the people under ethnic and sectarian mottos. Rising political battles do not serve the political parties and the democratic process, especially as the new parliament holds its first session to discuss the possibility of forming a national unity government. Just as the other blocs are free to nominate their candidates and leaders without others interfering, the United Iraqi Alliance is free to nominate its candidate for heading the government. The alliance insisted on nominating Ja'afari to the post of prime minister because it believed that some the pressure by some blocs (who oppose Ja'afari) aim to fracture the alliance's unity and limit its powerful political role. We call on all of the political parties to reject hurting the political process and to maintain dialogue so that a national unity government can be formed devoid of set conditions and (threats of) vetoes.