Iyad Allawi, Iraq's interim prime minister, yesterday announced the formation of a new coalition of political parties. On January 30, Allawi’s secular Shiite party, the Iraqi List, won 40 of the 275 seats in the national assembly – not enough seats to ensure Allawi’s continuing position as prime minister. Iraqi politicking is now concentrated on determining who will be the prime minister in the new government, which will guide the country in drafting a permanent constitution. The stakes are high as the constitution will establish whether Iraq will become an Islamic state like Iran, or a secular democracy.

Allawi didn’t mince words yesterday when announcing his new coalition:

We believe in liberal Iraq and not Iraq governed by political Islamists.

The United Iraqi Alliance, a Shiite religious-oriented party, won 140 seats on January 30, by far the largest block in the new national assembly. The Alliance has chosen Ibrahim al-Jaafari as its nominee for prime minister, but his selection is not assured. The current interim constitution, artfully drafted with a little help from Coalition Provisional Authority administrator L. Paul Bremer III, requires the national assembly to first pick a president and two vice presidents by a 182-seat majority. These 3 officials must unanimously select the prime minister, who then must be approved of again by assembly members. These checks and balances may just keep Iraq from turning into another Iran.

The Kurds, who won 75 seats, as well as the 9 parties who took the residual 20 seats, may just have something to say about whether Iraq adopts Shari‘a (Islamic law).

Alliance candidate al-Jaafari has tried to assuage the concerns of Iraq’s secular constituency:

Jaafari, a doctor who spent more than 20 years in exile in Iran and London, says he'll reach across ethnic lines and take a moderate position on the role of Islam. A modest man, the popular Jaafari supports an active role for women in government and society, and points out that his wife is a gynecologist and surgeon.

But just last week, Jaafari didn’t sound so “moderate:”

Al-Jaafari told the AP last week that Islam should be the official religion of Iraq "and one of the main sources for legislation, along with other sources that do not harm Muslim sensibilities."

He skirted his party's official position, which explicitly urges the "Islamization" of Iraqi society and the state, including the implementation of Shariah, or Islamic law.

"Theory is different from practice," al-Jaafari said.

It should then come as no surprise that Iraqi politics is starting to heat up. It has only been three weeks since the country held historic elections. While fools like Senator Edward Chappaquiddick Kennedy are sure to spew dire prognostications, seeing disaster around every corner, Iraqis are just starting to gain their sea legs in the brave new ocean of democracy.

Precisely because of the checks and balances in the interim constitution, and the results of the January 30 elections, it will not be so easy for the Shari‘a crazies to take over Iraq. Let us hope that cooler heads prevail.

In the final analysis, Iraqi democracy might just lead to Shari‘a. For those of us who supported Iraq’s liberation, watching with bated breath, and hoping for true democracy, we’ll have to remember that old adage, “Be careful what you ask for; you just might get it.” We’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there.