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BAGHDAD, March 8 (AFP) - 19h57 - Iraq's
election-winning Shiite political bloc announced
Tuesday it shared a common vision with the Kurds,
but warned its government lineup would not be
announced until after parliament met March 16.
"We are now focused on the principals and the
programme of the next government. We want a
government that is inclusive and representative. We
are in agreement (with the Kurds) on the programme,"
Sheikh Humam Hamudi, a senior member of the United
Iraqi Alliance (UIA), told reporters.
"I do not think the names of those that will occupy
the ministries will be announced before the meeting
of the national assembly."
Hamudi, flanked by four other members of the UIA,
spoke at a press conference at the Baghdad
headquarters of the Supreme Council for the Islamic
Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), which is part of the
alliance that garnered 146 of the 275 parliament
seats in January's elections.
The assembly's first order of business will be to
elect a speaker and a presidential council made up
of a president and two deputies, which will in turn
choose a prime minister.
The council needs two-thirds of the votes in
parliament to be approved.
"No announcement would be made before forming the
presidential council, which will formally nominate
the prime minister," said Adel Abdul Mehdi, outgoing
finance minister and UIA member.
Since the announcement of election results in
mid-February, the UIA has been holding intense
negotiations with the second-place Kurdish Alliance
over the formation of a governing coalition.
Both sides say they are in agreement over the
character of the next government and the need to
reach out to those who did not take part in the
elections, namely large segments of the Sunni Muslim
community.
"We are truly optimistic about the process and I
think we will finish our work in two to three days
maximum in terms of our vision," said Abdul Mehdi.
"Talks over the makeup of the cabinet have started
and we would at least conclude the broad structure"
before the assembly meets.
A similar sentiment was echoed by a Western diplomat
on Friday in an interview with AFP.
"They're working on the big bang," he said on
condition of anonymity. "They have to have an
agreement on the vision thing."
He said the sides were working on issues as complex
and diverse as revenue sharing between the provinces
and the central government, the role of the security
forces, how to include the Sunnis and how to deal
with members of the former ruling Baath party.
"We have to agree on a formula for the participation
of all Iraqis," said Ali al-Dabbagh, another UIA
member.
"If you can call it a quota system then that's
okay."
The UIA has nominated Ibrahim al-Jafaari as its
candidate for the premiership, while the Kurds, who
hold 77 seats in the assembly, are expected to
clinch the presidency for senior leader Jalal
Talabani.
The Kurds have been playing their cards deftly in
their talks with the Shiites making it known from
the get go that they would not budge over certain
issues like the separation of state and religion, a
commitment to federalism and their beloved Kirkuk.
Based on what both sides have been saying in recent
days, they are in accord on the first two points and
have agreed to deal with Kirkuk in the frame work of
the current interim laws, which they say will guide
the drafting of the permanent constitution to be put
to a referendum in October.
Kurds say the oil rich city is theirs and that its
character was altered by Saddam Hussein's forcible
settlement of Arabs there during his reign.
The interim law passed under the previous US-led
occupation authority say Kirkuk will be resolved
after land disputes are examined, a permanent
constitution is ratified and a census held.
"Everything revolves around the interim law," said
Abdul Mehdi, a member of SCIRI, which is led by
Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, who has for now climbed down
from his ambitions to form an Islamic state in Iraq.
AFP
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