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Summary

Iraqs political system, the result of a U.S.-supported election process, is increasingly exhibiting peaceful competition but continues to be riven by sectarianism and ethnic and factional infighting. As 2009 began, there was renewed maneuvering by opponents of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki who view him as authoritarian and might try to replace him, particularly if his party had fared poorly in the January 31, 2009 provincial elections. However, campaigning for the provincial elections, held in all provinces except Kirkuk and the Kurdish-controlled provinces, was relatively peaceful and enthusiastic and there was a more diverse array of party slates than those that characterized the January 2005 provincial elections. The elections appear to have strengthened Maliki and others who believe that power should remain centralized in Baghdad. Internal dissension within Iraq aside, the Bush Administration was optimistic that the passage of key laws in 2008, coupled with the provincial elections, would sustain recent reductions in violence. President Obama praised the orderliness and relative absence of violence of the electionsan outcome that appears to have reaffirmed the Obama Administrations belief that a reduction of the U.S. troop presence in Iraq can proceed without inordinate risk to Iraqi stability. The elections appear to also have reduced U.S. concerns about Irans influence in Iraq, in part because pro-Iranian partiesparticularly those that maintain militias armed by Iranfared poorly in the elections. See CRS Report RL31339, Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, by Kenneth Katzman.

Related Legislation:
• S.2009

Related Reports:
• RS21968

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