Shiites want decision on Iraqi PM delayed
Shiite leaders today decided to oppose convening parliament next week to decide the future of Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and may turn to the country’s top Shiite cleric to break the deadlock over the formation of the new government.
Sunni and Kurdish politicians had suggested that the 275-member legislature meet to decide whether al-Jaafari will head the next government after the prime minister refused their demands for him to step aside.
Sunni and Kurdish opposition to al-Jaafari, who was nominated by his dominant Shiite bloc for a second term, has emerged as the main stumbling block to forming a government of national unity to reverse the country’s slide toward anarchy.
However, Khalid al-Attiyah, a prominent Shiite politician, said representatives of the seven factions in the Shiite alliance met today and decided to oppose taking the issue to parliament until all Iraqi parties agree on other top posts, including the president and speaker of parliament.
The decision signals further delays in forming a unity government despite the personal intervention of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
They flew to Baghdad last Sunday to express international frustration over the slow pace of government talks since the December 15 national elections.
Sunni elder statesman Adnan Pachachi called a press conference for today in which he was expected to call for convening parliament on Wednesday to take up the al-Jaafari issue. Following the Shiite meeting, Pachachi cancelled the press conference without explanation.
Al-Attiyah said the deadlock was now “very complicated” and that al-Jaafari’s supporters within the alliance want to ask the advice of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country’s most respected Shiite cleric, before deciding their next moves.
Al-Attiyah said other Shiite politicians who are not affiliated with the major Shiite parties have also agreed to seek al-Sistani’s opinion.
Talk of referring the matter to al-Sistani is a sign that the Shiite politicians themselves cannot agree on what to do about the impasse over al-Jaafari.
Several prominent Shiites, including Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, have joined calls for al-Jaafari to step aside in the interest of national unity.
However, other Shiite politicians fear a bruising fight would split the alliance and cost the Shiites the political power they feel their majority community has earned because of its success in the elections and generations of suppression by the Sunni Arab minority.
The Kurds hold the presidency and the speaker of the outgoing parliament is a Sunni. The Shiites, the largest bloc with 130 seats, could block candidates of those communities without a deal on the prime minister.
| Related Stories: |
|
