Iraqis will vote March 7 in parliamentary elections — with more than 6,000 candidates from 18 provinces competing for 325 seats. The vote is likely to reconstitute the delicate balance of power among Iraq's three main ethnic groups, since Sunnis (who boycotted the first post-Hussein era election in 2005) will be participating. A new coalition government, however, likely will not be formed for several months. Meanwhile, several of Iraq's neighbors — sharing ethnic communities as well as borders with that state — will take an intense interest in the election and its outcome.
