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Two Shiite Alliance Contenders Vie for Prime Minister Job in Iraq

Posted on: Friday, 10 February 2006, 06:00 CST

By Rick Jervis

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's largest political alliance has narrowed its field of prime minister candidates to two.

The top candidates are Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Adel Abdul Mahdi, one of Iraq's two vice presidents, said Basam Ridha, an al-Jaafari adviser.

Al-Jaafari, who belongs to the Dawa Party, a Shiite religious organization that resisted Saddam Hussein's regime, has been criticized as being ineffective during the past nine months as prime minister, said Mahmoud Othman, a leading Kurdish lawmaker. Al-Jaafari was not as assertive as his tough-talking predecessor, Ayad Allawi.

However, al-Jaafari has gained experience in office and has distanced himself from religious Shiite leaders, Othman said. Al-Jaafari lived in England for much of the two decades he lived in exile.

Mahdi, a high-ranking member of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, has a stronger personality capable of bringing different sides to the bargaining table, Othman said. However, he is faulted for being too close to Iraq's religious clerics and viewed warily by some because he once lived in Iran, Othman said.

The United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite coalition that won the largest number of seats in parliamentary elections Dec. 15, will attempt to name its choice by Saturday.

The Independent Electoral Commission is to release officially certified election results today, clearing the way for the parliament to be seated. The legislature will then begin forming a government.

The Shiite alliance won 128 of parliament's 275 seats. Since the alliance fell short of a majority, it will need to form a coalition with other groups to form a government.

The United States encourages an inclusive government as a crucial step in deflating Iraq's insurgency and stabilizing the country. The new prime minister will lead efforts to form a government that includes Shiite and Sunni Arabs, Kurds and Christians.

In a statement in December, Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, urged Iraq's different parties to form a unity government. "Iraq's political parties and their leaders must come together to reinforce their commitment to democratic principles and national unity," he said.

The Sunnis, who once dominated Iraq's government, now are behind much of the insurgency battling U.S. and Iraqi forces. Sunnis are seeking a larger role in the new government.

"The key issue is what kind of government will form," said Hassan Bazzad, professor of International Relations at Baghdad University. "Forming a real national unity government will have the strongest impact on the situation in Iraq."

After election results are formally announced, the new parliament will convene and vote on a president and two vice presidents, known as the presidential council. The presidential council will then announce its choice for prime minister, taken from the Shiite alliance, and assign ministers. The serious negotiations are expected to take place behind closed doors, Othman said.

The jobs of heading the Defense and Interior ministries are critical, since those officials control the security forces. Khalilzad has said the security ministries should go to people without ties to sectarian groups or militias.

Othman said the Shiite alliance will try to agree on a prime minister nominee before Saturday. If not, the group will have to vote on it, a step that could divide the tentative alliance of different Shiite groups, he said.

Key to the selection could be Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric whose followers clashed with U.S. forces twice in 2004.

Al-Sadr supporters won about 30 seats within the alliance bloc. It's not clear which candidate al-Sadr will support, Ridha said.

(c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

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