In this morning's Guardian Michael Howard writes that
Iraq's largest mainstream Sunni Muslim party pulled out of the election race yesterday. They cite continuing violence North and West of Baghdad that will make a "fair and free" vote impossible.
So far, the Iraq Islamic party have stopped short of actually boycotting the elections: their non-participation is framed in terms of the need for greater security and -- if I'm reading it right -- the need to actually inform people that there is going to be an election. They'd like it postponed by six months.
Howard goes on to write that
"Ensuring fair representation of Iraq's once all-powerful Sunni minority - which comprises about 20% of the population - is seen as crucial to Iraq's future stability. One of Iraq's most prominent Sunni political figures, Adnan Pachachi, has warned that voter turnout could be just 5% in places where the insurgents appear most entrenched."
Personally, I've suspected for a while that the credibility of any election run under the auspices of the U.S. occupation would be sorely lacking. And at this point I think the figleaf of democracy is not only flapping about in the breeze a bit, but has come entirely unstuck.