Lopsided provincial councils keep Iraq off balance

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Lopsided provincial councils keep Iraq off balance
Sunnis boycotted elections and now feel shut out. Shiites aren't moving fast to change that.
By Solomon Moore, Times Staff Writer
March 11, 2007


BAGHDAD — The long delay in holding provincial elections in Iraq has shut out Sunni Arab majorities and exacerbated sectarian tensions in provincial capitals such as Kirkuk and Baqubah and in mixed neighborhoods of Baghdad.

A Sunni boycott of elections in 2005 has left the religious sect underrepresented in some provincial councils and has allowed Shiite politicians to dominate.

The stark political imbalance is a key driver of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in some of Iraq's most strategically important and heterogeneous cities, Iraqi politicians and U.S. officials say.

Plans to draft legislation to hold new local balloting have been put off indefinitely by the Shiite-dominated parliament, intensifying tensions with Sunni Arabs who have been pushing for new elections.

more:http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-provincial11mar11,1,6556252.story?track=rss