Iraq’s Jaafari hangs on as prime minister

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim
al-Jaafari, resisting growing pressure to step down for the
sake of national unity, is seen by allies as a quiet pragmatist
and by critics as a weak leader incapable of curbing bloodshed.

President Jalal Talabani acknowledged deadlock in efforts
to forge a new government on Thursday by delaying a first
session of the new parliament by a week. But the Shi’ite
Alliance, which requested the delay, said it would stand by
Jaafari’s candidacy.

Kurds and Sunni Muslims argue that with tensions already
high, installation of the interim prime minister to head the
first full-term government under Iraq’s new constitution only
signals more confrontation ahead.

As interim premier over the last year, Jaafari has
disappointed many and angered the Sunni Arab minority by
visiting Shi’ite Iran and describing ties between the old foes
as “very friendly and strong and expanding.”

Jaafari also lost favor with the Kurds who have accused him
of monopolizing power and failing to honor the deals he made to
win Kurdish support when he first took office.

The Kurds argue Jaafari has not done enough to back their
claim to the oil-rich but ethnically-mixed northern city of
Kirkuk, which they want as the capital of an autonomous region.

Jaafari says he sees his role in balancing ethnic demands
and has been known to grow impatient at outside criticism.

“When someone asks us whether we want a sectarian
government the answer is ‘no we do not want a sectarian
government’ — not because the U.S. ambassador says so or
issues a warning,” he once told a news conference.

“We do not need anybody to remind us, thank you.”

DELICATE BALANCE

U.S. and British officials trying to steer Iraq’s politics
sometimes complain of slow decision-making, as Jaafari consults
coalition partners and religious figures in the Shi’ite holy
city of Najaf, such as Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Critics say that approach has left a largely Sunni Arab
insurgency unchecked, the oil-producing country’s economy in
ruins and the Shi’ite controlled government condoning secret
death squads.

But allies are adamant.

“Jaafari is our candidate and he will stay. We will not
change him and will not hold any re-election to choose
another,” said Jawad al-Maliki, a senior member of the Dawa
party.

Jaafari holds a delicate balance within the ruling Shi’ite
alliance, which nominated him by a single vote after lengthy
infighting between his Dawa party and its main partner the
Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

He promised when he first became prime minister to use
dialogue and diplomacy to heal the country’s sectarian rifts
and he has seen some measure of success. Sunni Arabs won 58
seats in parliament in December elections after boycotting
interim polls 11 months earlier.

His main strength within the ruling alliance is that his
main rival for the top job, Abdul Mahdi, is seen as closer to
former war foe Iran — something that many Iraqis, particularly
secular Shi’ites, view with suspicion, fearing the imposition
of an Iranian-style Islamic theocracy.

President Talabani agreed on Thursday to delay a first
session of the new parliament by a week after a request from
the ruling Shi’ite Alliance. The Alliance’s Maliki said they
needed more time to discuss issues such as choosing the
parliamentary speaker, who by law must be elected in the first
session.

But Maliki ruled out any discussion of Jaafari’s candidacy,
reminding Kurds and Sunnis, seeking the presidency and post of
speaker, that they needed the support of the Shi’ites to
install their candidates.

(Writing by Nick Olivari)