Defying a sustained barrage of mortars and rockets in Baghdad and other cities, Iraqis went to the polls in numbers on Sunday to choose a new parliament meant to outlast the American military presence here.

    Voters defiantly waved fingers stained with purple ink to indicate that had voted, in spite of insurgents who had vowed to disrupt the election. The concerted wave of attacks -- as many as 100 thunderous blasts in the capital alone starting just before the polls opened -- did frighten voters away, but only initially. The shrugging response of voters could signal a fundamental weakening of the insurgency’s potency.

    At least 38 people were killed in Baghdad. At the end of the day, turnout was reported to be higher than expected, and certainly higher than in the last parliamentary election in 2005, marred by a similar level of violence.

    Sunnis who largely boycotted previous elections voted in force, and an intense competition for Shiite votes drove up participation in Baghdad and the south, election observers said.

    The short and fierce political campaign could end up either solidifying Iraq’s nascent democracy or leaving the country fractured along ethnic and sectarian lines. It was arguably the most open, most competitive election in the nation’s long history of colonial rule, dictatorship and war.

    Despite a long delay, disputes over candidates’ qualifications, arrests, assassinations and finally an all-out assault by insurgents on Sunday morning, the election took place with only a few reports of irregularities. 

    <<<背景介绍

       虽然官方结果预计不能在短期内公布，但是政党领导人称两个联盟看起来都进展顺利：一个是由总理马利基领导的联盟，他是第二次参加竞选，致力于改善伊拉克的安全局势，另一个是由以前临时政府总理阿拉维带领的联盟，他承诺将克服伊拉克的党派分歧。

       正如所料，没有哪个联盟能获得由新的325名成员组成的议会中的绝大多数席位。这将导致一段时期的动荡，因为获胜的联盟总是试图凑足票数以便选举总理。