The Spring of Democracy

There has been more bombings, yesterday in Mosul another bomb went off. A lot of sadness has been brought to that city in the last few days, showing that we still have bumps in our lives.

We are getting ever closer to forming a functioning government. Since January 30th, the government has been doing a lot of maneuvering behind the scenes setting up coaltions and future alliances and I suppose other secret dealings.

It is however now publicly known that a government will be elected on Wednesday when our parliament, the one that we elected in our "Purple Revolution", meets. This is surprising because it is earlier than expected. The Shia and Kurds who won a large part of seats, because of the Sunnis being scared, unwilling, etc. to vote have in the past month been going through negotiations and it seems they have come to agreements for the formation of a functioning government that will accelerate the process towards complete freedom.

Although I didnt vote for or support the Kurdish and Shia parties, I am very excited about this news. I am surprised it is not more well known in your news, I didnt see any mention of it last night when I was watching television with my friends. The talk on the street is that the formation of this body will help to crush the insurgency, because there will now be a strong, central and indigenous government in Iraq, rather than the jumbled state of affairs that has persisted.

So, I am just telling you all my dear friends, do not forget about us in Iraq. Things are continuing on the right path! The next week should bring interesting news. It also seems that we are quickly coming to having our first real President and Prime Minister. It is likely that Jalal Talabani will be the President, and the Prime Minister will be Ibrahim al-Jafari. They are a Kurd and Shia respectively. Where that will leave Sunnis, I do not know, but I hope that one of our leaders will step up to be an ally to both.

If our government can function with men of different backgrounds leading us, it will indeed usher in a new Iraq. It will definately be a very important dynamic that will have great impact and meaning for our future. IF they can work together, then I pray that Iraqis of all backgrounds will work together more, and throw aside animosities that have been present for so long, fostered largely by Saddam.

If things go well, not only in Iraq, but across the world, then InshAllah this Spring will bring in the birth of Democracy in more parts of the world. What great symbolism, and how beautiful!