Looking forward.

I'm not going to pay attention to the naysayer anymore, as they don't respond to logic and not even to historical facts. Many of those have accused me, my brothers and many determined, good, brave and optimistic Iraqis of being blinded by wishful thinking, if not traitors and CIA agents. This time we don't need to speak and we don't need to resort to logic and argue with these people, as finally the Iraqi people have spoken and they came through loud and clear and made even some of the major media admit the success for probably the first time.What happened in Iraq last Sunday was no less than a revolution as one of Jeff Jarvis's friends said. Millions of Iraqis have put all the doom and gloom people to shame and silence through acts of bravery not words. Some of those still don't seem to have changed their minds, but if such a great victory does not get to them then I guess nothing will. So I'll move on together with all Iraqis and look for the future with more courage and an optimism that is much more founded than any of their "smart pessimism".Before the elections most polls here in Iraq were suggesting that the "United Alliance List" was going to achieve a great victory and the next were the communist list, the Kurdish alliance, Allawis list and finally other minor parties.I had a similar impression at that time but what I saw on the election day and what I've heard from many people here plus some early reports from the "Independent electoral commission" suggest a somewhat different results.The "United Alliance List" is still thought to win more votes than any of the rest and I believe that's what's going to happen (by the way the actual translation should be, "The Unified Coalition List" and I don't know why it was translated the other way and in fear of being somehow, wrong I kept repeating the used translation, but I was thinking today that it's wrong and should be corrected). The difference is that Allawi's list seems to have attracted more votes than what was expected. Even in Najaf, the most holy city for the She'at, the majority of the votes are reported to be split between the "Unified coalition" and Allawi.I have seen many Arab Sunnis, She'at, Kurds and Turkmen who said they voted for Allawi.Some of the reasons that have made many Iraqis vote for Allawi might be that he's seen as a strong man who can deal with the challenges despite his government's failure to provide a good level of security and basic needs. He just has shown more optimism and determination and looked always strong which must have gave many Iraqis a much needed hope and courage.Still I doubt that he's going to be appointed as a Prime Minister again even if he got the second largest number of votes. Hussein Al Shahristani, the nuclear sientist from the "Unified coalition" seems to be the candidate with better chances in the current time but there are many good candidates who have the acceptance of most parties.At the risk of being wrong I'd like to offer my predictions of the poll results. Here's how I see it now:The Unified Coalition List: 30-35%Allawi's list: 20-25%Itihad Al Sha'ab (the communist party): 10-15%The Kurdish Alliance: 10-15%Al Yawir: 4-5%Al Pachachi: 2-3%Other Kurdish parties, Turkmen and other minorities: 4-5%Small democratic parties: 4-5%Individuals and others: 1-2%This is my personal perspective that I got from my observations here in Baghdad and of course I could be wrong but I doubt I'm going to be very wrong on this. I also believe such combination would be good for Iraq's transitional period and would come up with a balanced constitution. What's needed now is for the more liberal and democratic parties to learn from this first experiment and unite their efforts to gain more representation in the future and I think the majority of Iraqis are going to search for some alternatives to the parties that depend on ethnic and sectarian representation, as these parties will certainly be useful to guarantee the minority role but would never be able to come up with a vision and a mature policy for the future.Wish with us for a better future for Iraq and let's keep our optimism as we do our best. It's not a sin and it has paid it's fruits.