Sunni Participation

Sunni Participation

Only 2 percent of Sunni's voted in 2005, compared to 40 percent in this year's elections.


Protesting what they believed to be oppression by Iraq’s majority Muslim Shiite sect, many of the minority Sunnis boycotted the elections in 2005. As a result, Sunni lawmakers have been underrepresented in the Iraqi government.
Voter turnout in the Anbar province, inhabited mainly by Sunnis, increased from 2 percent in the 2005 elections to 40 percent on Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times. Many expect that Saturday’s elections will increase their representation on the councils.

Early poll results show an increasing interest in more independent and secular political parties, an indication that Iraqis are searching for alternatives to the religious extremism and divisiveness of previous years, according to the New York Times.

Iraqi legislator and independent party leader, Qassim Daoud, commented that, “the public are interested in services, and this election has shown them that they can change anything by democratic means if they are not satisfied.”