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Iraq's tortuous search for unity
21.2.2006
David Gritten
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Two months after the
elections, Iraq's political parties are repeating
the tortuous wrangling that epitomised negotiations
over the transitional government and the draft
constitution.
The US and UK are showing increasing impatience with
this process, in which Iraq's political parties are
pursuing narrowly-defined ethnic, sectarian and
political interests.
SHIA DIVISIONS
Just as before December's election, the Shia-led
United Iraqi Alliance is the main bloc in
parliament, having won 128 out of 275 seats.
Ten seats short of a majority, the UIA must form
another coalition with a number of the Kurdish,
secular, and Sunni Arab parties.
And yet again, the talks have been stalled by
arguments over who should be included.
Despite statements by UIA leaders committing
themselves to inclusiveness and national unity, some
sections of the Shia alliance have said they are
vehemently opposed to the inclusion of former
interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's secular Iraqi
National List.
The Sadr Bloc of MPs, representing radical Shia
cleric Moqtada Sadr, have said they would consider
Mr Allawi's participation a "red line".
Mr Sadr is suspicious of Mr Allawi's close ties with
the US, and has never forgiven him for supporting a
US-led military assault on the Mahdi Army in Najaf
and Karbala in 2004.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has also been
widely criticised for allowing Shia politicians to
dominate the main ministries.
His party's main partner in the UIA, the Supreme
Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, has
demanded it retain control of the interior ministry.
Recognising the criticism, he has vowed to include
representatives of all parties in his future
cabinet, but he is unlikely to cede control of some
key portfolios.
KURDISH CRITICISM
The UIA's current coalition partner, the Kurdistan
Alliance, has criticised Mr Sadr's stance on
refusing to enter a coalition with Mr Allawi, and
last week threatened to pull out of the government
if any parliamentary bloc was excluded.
The Kurds were also opposed to the UIA's decision
last week to retain Ibrahim Jaafari as prime
minister.
They have criticised the performance of his
government - particularly that fact that Mr Jaafari
allowed members of his bloc to control key
ministries, such as defence, finance and the
interior.
The Kurds also blame Mr Jaafari for failing to
settle the status of the northern oil city of Kirkuk,
which Kurds want as the future capital of a new
autonomous region.
SUNNI ALLIANCE
The leading Sunni parties have also threatened to
refuse to join Mr Jaafari's coalition if their calls
for change at the interior ministry are ignored.
Many Sunni Arabs accuse the Sciri-controlled
ministry of operating death squads targeting their
community and believe the Shia party's militia, the
Badr Brigade, to be responsible.
In an effort to create a "political balance" in
future negotiations with the UIA, the two main Sunni
Arab alliances, the Iraqi Accord Front and the Iraqi
Front for National Dialogue, have formed a united
front with Mr Allawi's Iraqi National List.
But even with 80 seats in parliament, it is unlikely
the front will have a significant influence on the
make-up of the new cabinet.
www.bbc.co.uk
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