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Iraqi Premier outlines his plans for a
more inclusive Government
15.2.2006
By Borzou Daragahi and Raheem Salman
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BAGHDAD - Prime
Minister Ibrahim Jafari outlined plans Tuesday to
build a broad-based government to tackle the
country's woeful security conditions.
Jafari, newly named as his Shiite Muslim coalition's
candidate to continue leading the country for the
next four years, faced widespread criticism for
being ineffective and controlling during his
10-month tenure as the country's top executive. He
acknowledged his previous administration's
weaknesses and vowed to listen to those outside his
political circle in forming a government.
"Any failure or frustration about a minister will be
reflected on the government as a whole," he told
reporters. "Any party in the government has the
right and duty to discuss candidates. No doubt, we
will consider all the different parties which form
the parliament."
Jafari did not spell out any major proposed changes
for his administration, but said he would tighten
the screws on ministers, who he suggested had been
spending too much time out of the country.
"The manner of work, the pace, the centralization of
the government … all will witness a qualitative
leap," he said.
Jafari, a 58-year-old physician and theologian who
has been active in Islamic politics for four
decades, faces daunting challenges. Skeptical
political blocs already are allying against him.
Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr within
Jafari's coalition demand more radical measures from
the government.
The coalition made Jafari its choice for prime
minister by a single vote in an election Sunday.
His work will proceed amid sectarian violence that
claimed at least 11 lives Tuesday in the Shiite city
of Balad, where gunmen attacked a group of farmers.
Several large roadside bombs rocked the capital,
injuring half a dozen Iraqis.
Jafari said that improving the country's dire
security circumstances would be his top priority.
But many Iraqis and Western officials regard his
government as part of the problem. Another faction
in his coalition, followers of Shiite cleric
Abdelaziz Hakim, has control of the Interior
Ministry, which members of the Sunni Muslim minority
have accused of spawning death squads.
The Shiite coalition, which controls 130 of the 275
seats in parliament, cannot form a government
without a two-thirds majority of lawmakers and needs
to build a coalition with Kurds, secular Iraqis or
Sunni Arabs.
Kurdish leaders opposed Jafari and have complicated
his task of assembling a government. They say Jafari
didn't grant President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, more
than a ceremonial role and failed to invoke a
constitutional article calling for the return of
dispossessed Kurds to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
Jafari said he felt sympathy for the displaced Kurds
but urged patience.
"We have a constitution and a law," he said. "My
success, values and morals aren't based on my
feelings but on how well I can apply the
constitution and the law."
Now Kurds say they won't form a government without
the participation of the Iraqi National List, the
coalition of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a
secular Shiite.
"We think that it's important not to exclude
anybody," Talabani said Tuesday at a news conference
with Hakim. "We believe the Iraqi List has struggled
against Saddam Hussein and includes many individuals
who struggled against the tyrant regime."
Sunni Arabs, with 55 seats in the parliament, and
Allawi's followers have allied to form a bloc with
the goal of preventing Shiites and Kurds from
remaking Iraq as a country divided into federal
regions. Their alliance could complicate efforts by
Jafari to draw at least some Sunnis into a ruling
coalition.
www.latimes.com
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