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Shia and
Kurdish parliamentary blocs have agreed on a set of
principles by which Iraq's next government will be
run, clearing the way for a government to be formed
by the two big winners in the January 30 elections,
negotiators from both groups said on Friday.
In particular, the Shia have reportedly agreed to
abide by the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL),
a US-sponsored interim constitution approved by
Iraqi politicians last year which Kurds say protects
their autonomy but which some Shia leaders have
argued could be overruled by a sovereign elected
parliament.
The issue had become a stumbling block in
negotiations between the two groups on the make-up
of the new government.
"There is a first-step agreement on how the
ministries are going to work together and the
programme for the ministries. Both of us are going
to respect the transitional law," said Fouad Massoum,
a negotiator for the Kurdish group. Negotiators
would consult their respective party leaderships
over the weekend, then return to talks tomorrow to
discuss dividing up ministries.
The Shia-led United Iraqi Alliance won 140 seats in
Iraq's 275-member parliament but will almost
certainly need the support of the 77-member Kurdish
bloc to obtain the two-thirds majority the TAL
requires to take the first step towards forming a
government.
The Kurds and Shia had already reached a preliminary
agreement that Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a member of the
Shia Islamist al-Dawa party, would become prime
minister, while the mainly symbolic presidency would
go to Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan.
Yet a deadlock seemed to arise during the past week,
prompting senior Shia clerics to suggest that the
majority bloc ought to cast about for other
governmental partners such as Iyad Allawi, current
prime minister.
Although they laid claim to several key cabinet
posts, the Kurds said they were more concerned with
the policies a Shia-led government would follow,
particularly regarding the autonomy of their
self-rule area.
The Kurds have said they must get the Shia bloc to
spell out its intentions now because the TAL is
vague on what would happen if the Kurds decided to
pull out of the ruling coalition.
From the Kurds' perspective, the document contains
key provisions regarding their northern Iraqi
autonomous zone and their regional government's
control over the northern security forces.
Negotiators said they hoped to form a government by
March 16 when parliament was set to hold its first
session.
http://news.ft.com
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