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BAGHDAD (Reuters)
- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Thursday he
had agreed to delay a first session of the new
parliament by a week beyond a constitutional
deadline to March 19 after a request from the ruling
Shi'ite Alliance.
Senior Alliance official Jawad al-Maliki said the
bloc, which has close to a majority in the
parliament elected in December, was determined to
resist Sunni and Kurdish efforts to force it to drop
Shi'ite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
"The Alliance has sent an envoy asking for a
postponement in the session until the 19th," said
Talabani's spokesman Kameran Qaradagi. "The
presidency, out of caring for the Alliance
participation, has accepted the request."
Shi'ite Muslims are the majority community in Iraq.
Maliki said the Alliance needed more time to discuss
several important issues such as choosing the
parliamentary speaker, who under the constitution
must be elected in the first session.
Sunni and Kurdish parties want Jaafari to step down,
accusing him of failing to improve security or
prosperity in the year he has been interim premier.
Jaafari, leader of the Dawa party, won the
nomination to lead the new government in an internal
ballot of Alliance legislators -- by far the biggest
bloc in the new parliament.
Maliki said the Alliance would not succumb to
pressure to withdraw Jaafari's candidacy.
"Jaafari is our candidate and he will stay. We will
not change him and will not hold any re-election to
choose another," said Maliki, a senior member of the
Dawa party.
Maliki said Kurds and Sunnis, seeking the presidency
and post of speaker, needed the support of the
Alliance for their candidates, a reminder that the
parties may need to compromise to get what they
want.
"We have a week more to choose the speaker of the
parliament and his two deputies and also to discuss
who is going to be the president," said Maliki.
Kurds have chosen Talabani, a Kurd, as the candidate
for the presidency. Sunni Arabs are still discussing
their candidates for speaker.
Reuters
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