Iraq takes a step forward....

Nice to see further progress...

WITH the results of Iraq's latest elections nearly complete, it's clear that the nation has taken another major step toward lasting democratization.

A robust campaign - more than 14,000 candidates and 400-plus political parties and alliances competing for 440 seats in the provincial assemblies - gave Iraqis the widest possible choice of personalities and policies.

The election concerned 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces and more than 80 percent of the electorate. (The three Kurdish provinces will hold their elections later this year. Another state, oil-rich Kirkuk, was left out because of unresolved problems regarding its ethnic composition.)

The turnout, just over 51 percent, was four points lower than in the general election of 2005 - partly because some voters in Baghdad thought they'd do better by shunning the exercise. But turnout in the four mainly Arab Sunni states rose from an average of 14 percent in 2005 to as high as 65 percent.

The road is open for building a genuine federal system in the new Iraq, one in which the 18 provinces will enjoy a large measure of autonomy while the central government looks after defense, foreign policy, major natural resources (including oil) and national security.

This was the first election entirely organized and protected by Iraqis: No foreign troops guarded the polling stations or escorted vulnerable voters. Yet the election took place without major incidents. (Three candidates were murdered, ostensibly by tribal rivals, and two suicide-bombing attempts were halted.) In 2005, going to the polls was an act of heroism in the face of terrorists determined to nip the new democracy in the bud.