The announcement yesterday of the official results of the general election in Iraq marks the end of a two-year constitutional transition from dictatorship to democracy. The elections six weeks ago have been won, as expected, by the United Iraqi Alliance, which took 128 of the 275 seats — 11 short of a majority, and fewer than the Shia party garnered in the vote for a provisional government last year. Sunni parties won 55 seats, many more than they did last time, representing a fifth of the total. That is roughly proportional to the Sunni population. The Kurds, by contrast, saw their seat total reduced. All parties can now begin talks on forming a government that, under the Constitution, is entitled to hold power for the next four years.

Despite the naysayers and their implicit ill-will towards Iraqis, the result is a considerable achievement. At every stage in the steady march to democracy, Iraqis have shown courage and determination in surmounting obstacles, defying terrorists and proving the pessimists wrong. The Sunnis have learnt from the mistake of a year ago, when they boycotted the election en masse and found themselves without a voice in the assembly mandated to draw up a constitution. Their subsequent decision to vote in last year’s referendum failed in its attempt to derail the proposals that emerged from months of haggling. But it achieved two important outcomes. The first was to send a clear message of defiance to the terrorists claiming to act in the name of the Sunnis, who tried to enforce a boycott; and the second was to persuade many Sunni voters that they should not waste their ballot a second time.

What is remarkable is that this has been achieved against a grim background of violence, suicide bombings and repeated attempts to sabotage Iraq’s economic and political recovery. The death toll has been horrendous, the fear on the streets palpable and the attempt by nihilists to foment civil war as ruthless as it was despicable. And yet Iraqis have continued to volunteer for the police, to train as soldiers and to embrace the freedoms that they now enjoy. Western cynics who forecast an inevitable descent into bloodshed, provoked by the allied presence, fomented by terrorists and triggered by communal reprisals have, thankfully, been mistaken.

With the Constitution enshrined in law and an election result broadly accepted as fair and conclusive, despite scattered allegations of ballot- box tampering, there is a firm basis for Iraq’s civic and political development.

Sensibly, the larger parties agree that whatever government is formed, it should be one in which all parties are represented. In a country where, for years, opposition was regarded as treachery, the concept of loyal and legitimate opposition is wholly alien. All groups therefore want a share of power, and reconciling competing claims on ministries and state offices could take months. But despite fissi- parous strains, the commitment of those elected to Iraq’s unity is impressive. The country has passed another milestone on the road to recovery.