|
BAGHDAD: Iraqi parliament is set to meet again
on Wednesday to elect a presidential council, moving
the country one step closer to forming a new
government more than two months since the landmark
elections.
Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani is the favourite to be
president, a clear sign of their new-found power in
Iraq after decades of oppression under Saddam, and
his two deputies are expected to be a Shia Arab and
a Sunni Arab. Most of the bargaining is centred now
on these last posts.
The Shia United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) is anxious to
speed up the process of forming the government to
crown its sweeping election victory. "I strongly
insist we meet around the clock until we complete
all matters relating to the government," said UIA
leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim.
The UIA needs the Kurds to form a coalition
government and both recognise the importance of
bringing in the Sunnis. In addition to the vice
presidency, Sunnis are expected to get four to six
cabinet posts. But as the process of choosing the
speaker underlined, Sunnis are splintered and
several factions are seeking to represent a
community still reeling from its loss of power and
privilege when Saddam’s regime was deposed two years
ago.
Another Sunni interested in the vice presidency is
Sherif Ali bin Hussein, the heir to the country’s
deposed monarchy, who like Pachachi ran in the
elections but failed to win any seats in parliament.
Meanwhile, five people were wounded in a bomb blast
near Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison just two days after
a brazen attack on the notorious facility, as Iraqi
politicians held more talks to try to agree on the
shape of the new government.
"It was a suicide tractor bomber," said one of those
wounded in the explosion near the US-run facility
west of the capital. Among those hurt were three
policemen, according to the interior ministry.
Gunmen shot dead a US soldier and wounded another in
the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar, the US military
said on Monday.
News Agencies
Top |
® 