A new bid to delay Iraq's vote

The plan is significant because it is the first such proposal to come from a member of the Shiite clergy, not from Sunnis or from secular Shiites like Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

If Allawi proposed a delay, it might be seen as a self-serving attempt to keep his office long enough to consolidate power. But Ghitta's proposal, coming from a respected Shiite cleric, might fare better.

Ghitta is hoping to enlist the United Nations to enforce this ultimatum. If he can persuade the United Nations and other international authorities to guarantee a strict timeline, he is willing to take the idea to Sistani.

"Sistani wants to be assured that the election will eventually be held," said Mr. Ghitta, a religious scholar from a long line of Shiite clerics. "The Shiite marja'iya will not agree to a delay in the elections without a guarantee. But if we go to the marja'iya with this idea, with a written schedule, the marja'iya will look at it seriously."

Sistani has so far refused to compromise on the election date, which he hammered out in a series of painful, long-distance negotiations - he rarely leaves his house - with US occupation authorities last year. On Nov. 26, a group of mostly Sunni political parties, headed by politician Adnan Pachachi, asked for a delay of six months. The answer from Sistani's office was swift: no delay.

But as the Dec. 15 deadline for voter registration draws near, Iraqi authorities have begun to acknowledge that the election will be difficult to pull off as planned. On Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi hinted at a possible compromise: elections staggered over a series of two or three weeks, instead of one day, giving election authorities time to adjust to often violent conditions in different parts of the country. Allawi backed away from the idea on Thursday, but Iraq's independent electoral commission, said it would be willing to consider it.

So far, Ghitta has approached a senior United Nations representative and Mr. Pachachi. United Nations officials could not be reached for comment, but a representative of Pachachi's Independent Democratic Movement said they were taking the idea seriously.

But the most important response will be Sistani's. Ghitta has not yet taken his proposal to the senior cleric. An aide in Sistani's Najaf office called Ghitta "a very respected scholar," but said he had not heard of the proposal.

"Ayatollah Sistani's position is clear: he does not want a delay in the election," said the aide, who asked not to be named. "The Iraqi people have already been waiting for a long time."

But Ghitta believes that Iraqis need more time for voter education. "The people of Iraq have not been instilled with the culture of elections."

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