BAGHDAD, January 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Almost two weeks after a similar American proposal was fumed at by people from both sides, two prominent Shiite political leaders said Sunni should be represented in the next government and parliament even if they boycott the general elections, scheduled for January 30.

“All must participate in the governmental authority and we will insist that they (Sunnis) be represented in the government, that they have posts and they should also have a voice in drafting the constitution and responsibilities in the government,” Abdel Aziz Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Shiite Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“Whether the Sunnis have many or few seats in the next parliament, we need the real participation of all,” he said.

Hakim is the top candidate on the Unified Iraqi Alliance, a 228-member list of Shiite parties endorsed by the most revered Shiite scholar Ayatollah Ali Sistani.

The alliance also includes the Islamic Dawa Party and the Iraqi National Congress, led by one-time Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi.

Fearing the alienation of the entire community, the Bush administration reportedly proposed to grant Sunnis a number of portfolios and high-profile posts in the future government.

It also raised with Iraqi officials the possibility of adding some of the top Sunni vote-getters in the general elections to the interim legislature even if they lose to non-Sunni candidates, reported The New York Times on Sunday, December 26.

The Iraqi voters are to choose a 275-member assembly, which will be charged with writing a permanent constitution.

If adopted in a referendum next year, the constitution would form the legal basis for another general elections to be held by December, 2005.

Iraqi workers hang elections banner in Baghdad. (Reuters)

Jawad Maliky, the number two in the Dawa party, also told AFP they would be open to even guaranteeing seats for Sunnis in the new 275-seat assembly.

“We are open to an accord between all parties involved including the United Nations that can provide temporary representation on the national assembly for some parts of the country that for some reason does not take part in the vote.”

He said he believed such a proposal could solve the impasse in such Sunni areas as Fallujah and Mosul.

“We are talking about a handful of areas including Fallujah and this means a few seats on the assembly,” said Maliky, who led clandestine cells that infiltrated Iraq between 1980 and 1991 to carry out attacks against Saddam's regime.

“This would tie us over for a year until we can hold elections at the end of 2005 and hopefully in a more secure environment.”

The Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), the highest Sunni religious authority in the country, pressed for a boycott of the elections, citing the impossibility of organizing fair elections held under current deteriorating conditions.

Also, the Islamic Party, a major Sunni political player, recently backtracked on its earlier decision to vie, dealing a huge blow to the process.

Last week, Iraqi interim Defense Minister Hazem Al-Shaalan signaled a readiness to postpone the vote if Sunnis agreed to take part.

“We have asked our Arab brothers, particularly in Egypt and Gulf countries, to get Iraqi Sunnis to participate in the elections and if such a participation requires a delay to the election date, they could be delayed,” he told AFP.

However, his remarks were immediately rebuffed by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi who said elections would be held as scheduled.

Iraqi elder statesman Adnan Pachachi on Saturday made a new plea for postponing the vote.

The once presidential candidate said the elections would be seen as “illegitimate” since large segments of the population would not be able to take part because of the surging violence.

“If they are going to be held on January 30 without the participation of large segments of the Iraqi population and important areas of Iraq, the elections would be seen as non-inclusive and illegitimate,” he told BBC radio.

“That, I think, would exacerbate the situation and would really make the whole situation worse,” added Pachach, a former foreign minister now in his 80s.

Last month, he joined hands with several politicians and party officials in pressing for a six-month delay of the vote over the increasing deteriorating security conditions.