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Bumpy road ahead to Iraq's first full government

Posted on: Thursday, 16 February 2006, 08:39 CST

By Lin Noueihed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - It could be weeks or even months before Iraqis get their first full-term government since the ousting of Saddam Hussein, with political factions wrangling over top ministries and conflicting visions of Iraq's future.

"I think this process will take until at least the middle of next month," said Abbas al-Bayati, a Turkmen Shi'ite Muslim who belongs to the dominant United Iraqi Alliance (UIA).

"There are two main problems: getting all the parties to agree on a government program, which may take time, and the distribution of portfolios, especially key ministries such as interior, defense and foreign affairs."

Before official talks on a new government even begin, the parliament elected in December must pick a prime minister in a session that must be held by February 25.

The ruling Shi'ite UIA has finally nominated the incumbent prime minister, Ibrahim Jaafari, to lead the next cabinet.

But his name emerged only after a lengthy contest within the Alliance that pitted his Dawa party against the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), which wanted one of its leaders, Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi, to get the job.

Jaafari looks likely to be endorsed by the 275-member assembly, where the UIA holds 128 seats.

Parliament must then vote in a new president before the prime minister begins official talks to form a government within the 30 days stipulated by the constitution.

High-level consultations have already begun, but politicians say it will not be easy to meet the deadline as Shi'ites, Kurds and Sunni Arabs negotiate over portfolios as well as perennially thorny issues such as how to deal with the insurgency and the contested oil city of Kirkuk.

U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad has added to the complexities by saying the interior, defense and foreign affairs portfolios, along with intelligence and national security, should go to technocrats, not be divided along sectarian lines.

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Parties that have won parliamentary seats may not agree.

As the largest bloc in parliament, the UIA insists it should have the biggest say over cabinet posts. Pro-Iranian SCIRI, a heavyweight in the Alliance, already controls the Interior Ministry and is unlikely to let it go without a fight.

But Sunni Arab groups want SCIRI to leave the Interior Ministry following allegations that the ministry condones Shi'ite hit squads and the discovery of a ministry-controlled bunker full of mostly Sunni detainees showing signs of abuse.

The Interior Ministry denies the death squad allegations.

Sunni Arabs, who boycotted interim polls but won 58 seats in the December election, also want the cabinet program to call for the withdrawal of U.S. forces. They want redress for their complaints over the new constitution, which was passed by referendum in October but comes into effect with a new cabinet.

The Alliance insists the constitution stay intact and want the government program to include pledges to keep former members of Saddam Hussein's Baathist party from public office and to fight the Sunni Arab-led insurgency.

"We believe this will be a very difficult process. We should see a government within two months but if the issues are rushed and do not take in all viewpoints there will be problems," said Hussein al-Falluji, a member of the largest Sunni Arab bloc.

A date for the first session of the new parliament has yet to be set, but President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, was holding consultations on Thursday with the different political blocs.

The Kurds want the new government to promise to resolve the fate of Kirkuk, an ethnically-mixed city they seek as the future capital of an autonomous Kurdish region. They had previously complained that Jaafari did not live up to his pledges over Kirkuk in his 10 months as interim prime minister.

With such mixed support, Jaafari's job will be harder.

"The road to the new government will not be paved or straight. But the bumps can be overcome," said Bayati.

Source: REUTERS

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