|
BAGHDAD, Iraq,
May 12 - A Shiite political party said Friday that
it would not participate in the formation of a new
Cabinet, saying the selection of the ministers was
being dictated by personal interests that ran
counter to the spirit of national unity.
"We have found that the way the negotiations are
progressing, and the way (ministerial) posts are
being distributed, which is based on personal
interest and selfish desires ... will not lead to
the formation of a truly new Iraq," Sabah al-Saadi,
spokesman for the Fadhila party, told The Associated
Press in a telephone interview.
Fadhila — which holds 15 seats in Iraq's 275-seat
parliament — is one of seven parties comprising the
powerful Shiite bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance. Its
withdrawal reflects the continuing challenges facing
Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki in his bid
to form a new national unity government ahead of the
May 22 deadline he was given.
"Therefore, we have reached a final stance that we
will not participate in the Cabinet but will remain
in the parliament to express the voice of the
people," he said. "We will form an opposition block
in the parliament."
Al-Maliki has said he would announce the new Cabinet
by the end of the week, but Shiite and Sunni
lawmakers have said negotiations between the various
political blocs were bogged down and that a complete
list of Cabinet ministers was unlikely to be
announced before next week.
Al-Saadi declined to specify what triggered the
party's decision to withdraw its bid for ministerial
posts. But over the past week, its officials have
repeatedly said they wanted the key Oil Ministry,
one of the five so-called "sovereignty" ministries.
The others are the Interior, Defense, Foreign
Affairs and Finance ministries.
Fadhila member Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum had previously
served as oil minister. But he resigned for a second
time in January amid public anger over increased oil
prices in Iraq. His resignation came after criticism
from prominent Shiite members of the government.
"Fadhila deserves, more than others, the Ministry of
Oil, particularly if we find that some important
posts were given to independents," said al-Saadi,
adding that "the government should be formed on the
basis of honesty and loyalty to Iraq."
AP
Top |
® 