Iraq's political leaders, under pressure from Washington, were set to meet in
parliament on Thursday in hopes of breaking a deadlock over the formation of a
unity government seen as the best hope to avert civil war.
Iraqi Prime Minister
Ibrahim Jaafari presides over a cabinet meeting in Baghdad, 19 April.
Iraq's parliament was to meet for only the second time since it was
elected in December amid protracted political deadlock that has stalled
the formation of a government for more than four months.
[AFP/File] |
But legislators from the Shiite Alliance, the largest bloc in parliament,
threatened to boycott the sitting, which would throw the U.S.-backed political
process into further disarray.
The United States hopes a government comprising Shiites, Sunni Arabs and
Kurds will foster stability and set the stage for an eventual drawdown of U.S.
troops. It has grown increasingly anxious as Iraqi politicians struggle to form
an administration four months after elections in December.
The cause of the political paralysis is Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim
al-Jaafari's refusal to heed calls from Sunni Arabs, Kurds and even some Shiites
to withdraw his nomination for a second term.
Raising the possibility that Thursday's scheduled parliament session could be
delayed for a second time in a week, a member of the powerful Shiite Alliance
said the bloc would boycott the sitting if all parties did not agree beforehand
on key posts, including the assembly speaker and a presidential council.
"We agreed that we will hold a meeting in parliament only if all parties
agree on all key posts," Ali al-Adeeb, a member of Jaafari's Dawa party, told
Reuters.
He said the Alliance would announce later on Thursday if it would attend the
session, scheduled for 4 p.m. (1200 GMT).
The assembly, which has sat only once since it was elected in December, was
postponed on Sunday to give parties more time to bury their differences.
Signaling growing frustration at the delay, President Bush said on Wednesday
the "the political process in Iraq must occur soon and we are working toward
that end."
Although legislators are unlikely to resolve the row over the premiership if
they meet at all on Thursday, they could vote on the nomination of other key
government posts, including the speaker of parliament.
The Alliance bloc, drawn from the country's majority Muslim Shiite community,
earned the constitutional right to choose a prime minister after winning 130
seats in the 275-seat assembly.
Removing a smaller hurdle in the impasse, Sunni leader Tareq al-Hashemi
withdrew his candidacy for speaker after objections by Shiite legislators, who
expressed concern over his past links to Saddam Hussein's Baath party, Sunni
sources said.
Instead, the Iraqi Accordance Front, the minority Sunnis' largest
parliamentary group, decided on Wednesday to support Sunni leader Adnan
al-Dulaimi for speaker, a post which is expected to go to a Sunni.
The secular group of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who is popular in
Washington, will propose him for one of the two vice presidents, a largely
ceremonial post. Allawi's group, the Iraqi List, is the fourth biggest bloc,
with 25 seats.
Jaafari was nominated during an internal Shiite vote in February, but his
critics say he is a weak leader who has failed to curb violence and improve the
economy in his year in office.
He told a televised news conference on Wednesday that resigning was
"absolutely not" in his plans.
The political paralysis has coincided with a surge in violence that has
pushed Iraq toward the brink of civil war three years after U.S. forces invaded.
The United States, which has more than 130,000 troops in Iraq, has blamed the
political vacuum for fuelling violence.