Iraqis for democracy

Labour Friends of Iraq have a post up with a statement from a number of Iraqi union and workers' organizations, 'Iraqi Trade Unions unite for economic sovereignty':

The federations and unions stress the importance of complete sovereignty for Iraq over its petroleum and natural resources so as to develop them in a way that assures a complete reconstruction of the country.

The statement then sets out eight points 'in regard to the policies of the IMF and World Bank in Iraq'. Read the whole thing. See also this Labour Friends post:

LFIQ Chair Dave Anderson MP has tabled a Commons motion in support of the Books to Iraq Appeal with cross-party support from, so far, members of 4 parties.

And note, finally, the report here:

More than three-quarters of Iraqis support a democratic political system but they are divided on the role Islam should play in their country's government, according to a University of Michigan study.

The study says 51 percent favor a strong link between government and religion and 49 percent prefer a secular political system.

The findings, just published in the January 2006 issue of the Journal of Democracy, are based on a survey of a representative area probability sample of 2,325 Iraqis conducted in November and December 2004 with funding from the National Science Foundation. The survey was carried out in collaboration with the Baghdad-based Independent Institute for Administration and Civil Society Studies.
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"The vast majority of Iraqis of all three of the country's major ethnoreligious communities expressed support for democracy over authoritarian political systems," said U-M political scientist Mark Tessler, lead author of the study.
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"Given the violence and uncertainty prevailing in Iraq when this survey was conducted, the data allow for optimism in some important respects," the authors concluded. "There is broad support for democracy and a majority attach more importance to forging a common national identity than to preserving and protecting their particular group's special interests.

(Hat tip: MA.)