The Shiite United Iraqi Alliance captured 128 of the 275 seats in the Dec. 15 election, down from the 146 it won in January 2005 balloting, said commission official Safwat Rasheed.
It needed 138 seats to form a government on its own.
So the talks begin on forming a government. As I've noted before, the real test isn't when the majority takes power from election results. Majorities can take power by force, too. The immediate test is whether the losers--especially the Sunnis--accept the loss and work within the system.
Down the road the test is whether losers pack their offices and leave when somebody else wins in an election.
Still, on the heels of three free elections, forming a government is important. And these first steps would never have been taken but for the American-led effort to free Iraq and "impose" democracy by gunpoint.
