Iraqi church official lauds country's election

Published: 2005-01-31

ROME (CNS) -- Every Iraqi who cast a vote on Jan. 30 amid continued chaos and violence showed that democracy will win over terrorism, said a top Iraqi church official. "This is a big lesson to terrorism, a great message that says we are not afraid" of terrorists and "we will rebuild our country," said Father Philip Najim, the Rome-based representative of the Chaldean-rite Baghdad Patriarchate. The greater-than-expected voter turnout is "a positive sign" as it marks a turning point in Iraq's future, he said. "It shows the whole world how educated the Iraqi people are and that we are capable of reaching freedom and democracy," the Iraqi-born priest told Catholic News Service Jan. 31. Even if polling in some places proved less than perfect, "the most important thing is that the people went; they went despite the violence, the fear and terrorism," he said. Millions of Iraqis cast their votes Jan. 30 in the country's first democratic election in decades. They voted for a 275-member transitional National Assembly that will eventually choose a new government that will, in turn, elect the country's president and prime minister.

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