All the political blocs and parties care only about their own interests and the interests of the groups they represent in the first place. Therefore, there is no unchanging foundation and no axioms in the world of politics. Quite the contrary, change is an intrinsic characteristic of politics, according to the circumstances and the prevailing currents. The Kurdistan Alliance is one of these political blocs, and it seeks to achieve the interests of the Kurdish people, as it represents them. We see the leaders of this alliance trying to stand at the same distance from all parties and avoid confrontations with any other political bloc in Iraq. Therefore, the Kurdistan alliance maintains good relations with all the major blocs.

As the Iraqi judiciary approved the final election results and the Iraqi Parliament held its inaugural session, I think that the government will be formed very soon. Due to the alliance between the National Iraqi Coalition and the Coalition of the State of Law, the position of Prime Minister definitely belongs to this new alliance, although the electoral merit gives preference to the Iraqi List, because it won the majority of the parliamentary seats. Nouri Al-Maliki is probably the favorite person to be chosen as Prime Minister, as he now belongs to a significant coalition, although many people including some among his new coalition have reservations about his candidacy again. However, all the signs show that he is the favorite.

The Kurdish Coalition’s approaching the Iraqi List is worrisome. How can the Kurds ally themselves with Baathists?

The Kurds are a key ally and partner in the political process. They should not be ignored. Rather, all lists should seek to ally themselves with the Kurdish Coalition, because its leaders, most of all Jalal Talabani, proved their neutrality and concern about Iraqi issues more than once. Jalal Talabani has adopted a national stand in his dealing with Iraqi issues. More than once, he has been the man who played the biggest role in solving problems that take place among politicians, even they were simple problems, but they may turn into big crises. Therefore, this figure should be enlisted to participate in the political process and not eliminated.

It is necessary for the Kurdistan Coalition to change its partners and to find another bloc that treats the whole country of Iraq, from north to south, equally. The only available option for it was an Iraqi Bloc, which has both leaders and a clear political agenda aiming to serve the interests of all Iraqis.

Iraq has been successful at carrying out this most important exercise, through which it has proven to the whole world that it is a country with a people who love democracy and want to live in peace and security. Every Iraqi individual has contributed to the success of the electoral process, from the ordinary citizens to those in charge of the elections at the Electoral Commission of Iraq. Even the politicians have contributed to it, despite their differences, which is the basis of democracy, as difference of opinion is the basis of democracy. The elections which took place within the specified time and place in Iraq, without postponement, despite the continual threats made by terrorists to target the election centers and any citizen who went out to cast their votes. However, everyone went out to vote, and it was a day of celebration and great victory for Iraq. Every Iraqi home, inside Iraq or abroad, was filled with an air of happiness, because it was a day of challenge, a day on which Iraqis demonstrated that they have embarked upon another phase, and have forgotten the previous phases, in which the people were living under the criminal regime, or the terrorists and what they have done. All of these things stopped with the mere collapse of the previous regime. And despite the fact that the democratic experiment is a new one, the Iraqi citizens have shown that they are informed intuitively, that they are used to voting, and that they know how to elect the right candidate. During the polls that were previously carried out in Iraq, which were useless drivel written on paper, all the Iraqis went to the voting centers, because they were forced to do so. The Iraqi was forced to choose Saddam once again, after thirty-five years of his rule without any change, as Iraq as a whole was going through worse and worse stages as time went by. Today, however, each Prime Minister has a term of four years, during which he has to accomplish things for the Iraqi people and for Iraq, and if he doesn’t, he will be easily replaced by means of the elections.

The Iraqi Federal Court, through its president Medhat al-Mahmoud, announced that it has ratified the election results a few days ago, and that it has sent back the results to the Independent Higher Electoral Commission (IHEC), and that they cannot be contested or objected to again, because it has acquired the desired level of certainty, and they can no longer be contested by the lists and the blocs. Despite the long time that this process took, from Election Day in March of this year until today, it nevertheless is a positive and important step taken by the Federal Court, which put an end to the dispute between the political blocs and lists that have won the elections. Now, the matter is in the hands of the politicians in order for them to form new political blocs and alliances, so that they can form the government, meaning that now they can officially start engaging in serious discussions, because the final ratification of the election results has been made, and everything is now in place for the Iraqi politicians to rapidly form the government and to work towards responding to the needs of the Iraqi people who have elected them. This ratification of the election results by the Federal Court is considered a great victory for the Iraqi judiciary, which demonstrated that it is a judiciary that is not affected by the circumstances and the pressures to which it is subjected by influential people in the executive branch. Now, things are going according to constitutional procedures, as the first session of the Council of Representatives should be held within 15 days from the date of ratification, and during this period we will know the size of the political blocs that have been formed after the elections, or whether the lists have maintained the same bloc formations as when they entered the elections.

An Iraq led by the Al-Maliki government for a second term will be a strong Iraq.

The ratification of the Iraqi elections by the Iraqi judiciary is an important step towards the formation of the new government.