Billed as a key test of Iraq's nascent democracy, Iraqis fear Sunday's parliamentary election will lead to a protracted period of uncertainty as the winners and losers try to cobble together a new government - even as American forces prepare to go home. None of the main political coalitions is expected to win an outright majority, which could mean months of negotiations and more violence despite hopes the balloting will boost efforts to reconcile Iraq's divided ethnic and religious groups. Iraq's second nationwide election for a full parliamentary term comes at a vastly different time than the first in December 2005. A car bomb targeted Iraqi and Iranian pilgrims in the Shiite holy city of Najaf Saturday, killing at least three people, including two Iranians, and wounding more than 50, officials said. The balloting for a new 325-seat legislature has been billed as a major step in Iraq's democratic evolution. Iraqis hope it will help them achieve national reconciliation at a time when the United States has vowed to stick to President Barack Obama's timetable that calls for the withdrawal of combat forces by late summer and all American troops by the end of next year. But many observers have predicted it could take months for rival factions to form a new government. Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki's government will stay in place until the new government is formed but on the practical side, not a lot of work may get done as ministers who are worried about retaining their jobs or scrambling for new ones lose focus on the day-to-day running of the government. Maliki heads the State of Law Coalition, a largely Shiite group that presents itself as nonsectarian but is dominated by the religious Dawa party. In a surprise move ahead of the election, Sadr made a rare public appearance Saturday in neighboring Iran. Speaking from Tehran, he urged Iraqis to turn out in large numbers Sunday and give their support to those who he said were “faithful” to the Iraqi people. The Iraqiya list, led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite, has attracted both Shiites and Sunnis for its secular stance and its high-profile Sunni candidates. There are signs - albeit small - that Iraqis are thinking beyond the strictly sectarian lines that have defined them. The major coalitions have paid at least lip service to including members of other Muslim faiths, a contrast to the 2005 vote. “What you had basically was Kurds voting for Kurds, Sunnis voting for Sunnis and Shiites voting for Shiites,” said former US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad. “This time, it looks like people are moving away, not totally of course, but incrementally away from sectarianism.” The Kurdish Alliance, made up of the main Kurdish political parties who dominate in their self-rule northern region, won't form the government in this Shiite-majority country, but their political unity means they will likely help decide who does. Key to their negotiations will be the future of Kirkuk claimed by both Arabs and Kurds.
