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More
than a month after the election, top Iraqi parties
have yet to agree on a coalition government.
A new round of talks between Iraq's top candidate
for prime minister and Kurdish leaders has so far
failed to produce an agreement on a coalition
government.
Ibrahim al-Jaafari, of the Shia-led United Iraqi
Alliance list, spent two days in Iraqi Kurdistan
shuttling between meetings with Kurdistan Democratic
Party, KDP, leader Massoud Barzani and Jalal
Talabani, the head of the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan, PUK, The two Kurdish leaders are now
meeting with each other to consider their response.
Rada al-Khafaji, a member of the United Iraqi
Alliance, said Jaafari's trip was part of the Shia
bloc's desire to form a government based on
consensus with other leading parties.
"We need to be in accord with all, otherwise we will
face [difficulties],"
she said.
The United Iraqi Alliance won 140 seats in the
National Assembly, falling short of the two-thirds
majority it would have needed to secure the prime
minister's post for Jaafari without consultation.
The alliance is led by religious parties and backed
by Iraq's top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
The Kurdish Alliance list, led by the KDP and PUK,
is the next biggest grouping, holding 77 seats after
picking up an extra two seats in a new alliance with
a smaller Kurdish party. Al-Iraqiyun (Iraqis), a
bloc led by interim prime minister Ayad Allawi, has
the third largest representation in the assembly,
with 40 seats.
The 275-member National Assembly is charged with
drafting the country's new constitution, as well as
choosing a president and two deputies from among its
members. Those three leaders will then nominate a
prime minister who will go before the assembly for
approval.
An agreement on the key cabinet posts must be
reached before the new government can be named, and
as more than a month has passed since the January 30
election, Iraqis are expressing frustration as
negotiations drag on.
Teaming up with the largely secular Kurdish list
would be the easiest way for the Shia alliance to
achieve the necessary votes for Jaafari, in terms of
sheer numbers. However, the two sides disagree on
several key issues, including the role that religion
should play in the new constitution.
Other sticking points include the Kurdish desire to
see the oil-rich city of Kirkuk become part of the
Kurdish-controlled area, as well as demands that the
region's autonomous status should be laid down in
the constitution.
Kurds have administered their own affairs since
their region fell out of Saddam Hussein's control
after the 1991 Gulf War.
The alliance is holding talks with Allawi's bloc,
but his rival bid for the prime minister's position
has complicated negotiations between the two groups.
The secular Shia politician is trying to cobble
together a coalition of secular parties to offset
the Shia alliance's power.
Hussein al-Sadir, a member of al-Iraqiyun, said the
country is going through a sensitive and dangerous
stage that requires all of Iraq's ethnic and
political groups to cooperate.
The parties are under a tight deadline to form a
government and start drafting the constitution.
Under the country's interim law, the constitution
must be drafted by August 15, in order to go to a
public referendum in October.
The law does allow for a six-month extension, but
that would delay a general election scheduled for
December, and the timetable for the eventual
withdrawal of Coalition troops from Iraq.
The Kurds, who like the Shia suffered for decades
under Arab Sunni rule, now appear to be the
country's next kingmakers. But they are keeping
quiet about their pick for prime minister.
The Kurds have made it clear that they expect the
presidency to go to PUK leader Talabani, which would
be a blow to Iraq's minority Sunnis, who would be
locked out of the country's top two leadership
posts.
The Sunnis are expected to receive one of two
vice-presidents' posts, a key ministerial position,
and possibly also the chairmanship of the National
Assembly.
Zaineb Naji is an IWPR trainee journalist in Iraq.
www.iwpr.net
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