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Iraq's ruling Shi'ites choose Jaafari as
PM
12.2.2006
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BAGHDAD, Feb 12
(Reuters) - Iraq's ruling Shi'ite bloc voted on
Sunday to nominate incumbent Ibrahim al-Jaafari as
candidate for prime minister in the first full-term
government since the fall of Saddam Hussein, an
alliance official said.
Jaafari won by a single vote an United Iraqi
Alliance (UIA) vote, Sami al-Askari told Reuters,
after weeks of wrangling that has delayed the start
of talks for the formation of a new Iraqi government
nearly two months after elections.
The UIA had been expected to nominate Vice President
Adel Abdul Mahdi as prime minister on Saturday but
was unable to reach a consensus.
As the party with the biggest bloc in parliament
after winning 128 of the 275 seats, the alliance
will be asked by the next president to name a prime
minister, to be approved by a simple parliamentary
majority, under the Iraqi constitution. |
Ibrahim al-Jaafari a candidate for prime minister in
the first full-term government since the fall of
Saddam Hussein
Photo: AP |
But the alliance, beset by rivalries, had been
unable to agree on a nominee, holding up the
formation of the government.
The failure of Saturday's talks dashed expectations
that Abdul Mahdi, a leader in the Supreme Council
for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), would
stand as the alliance's candidate and ease what
appears to be an internal crisis.
The alliance chose the prime minister by simple
majority vote, with Jaafari, a top leader of the
Dawa party, winning 64 votes to Abdul Mahdi's 63.
Jaafari supporters celebrated outside the heavily
guarded SCIRI headquarters in Baghdad as the news
leaked out.
Reuters
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