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Iraq's Al-Mahdi Hints Wrangling on New Government Likely to Go On

Posted on: Thursday, 16 March 2006, 12:00 CST

Text of report by London-based newspaper Al-Hayat on 14 March

Iraqi Vice-President Adil Abd-al-Mahdi has said: "Most options for the formation of the government have been exhausted, and only two remain open from which we must choose one to overcome the political crisis facing the country."

In remarks to Al-Hayat, he stressed the need to "respect the time factor as a constitutional obligation." He noted, "The Shi'i bloc stands with the public interest and there is nothing in its decisions that is sacred." He denied reports about his refusal to sign the first invitation addressed by President Jalal Talabani to the parliament to convene, and expressed his concern about the security situation. Assessing the current political consultations to form a government, Abd-al-Mahdi affirmed, "Most options have been exhausted and only two remain open from which we must choose one to overcome the political crisis facing the country. The first is for the political forces to reach a complete deal through the parties to prepare the ground for wide-scale solutions and then to be covered by a parliamentary position. The second is for the leaders of parliamentary blocs to reach an understanding under the auspices of the parliament. This path is easier, because procedures in the political deal are complicated."

Regarding the current political wrangling, Abd-al-Mahdi said, "The wrangling now is between two parliamentary forces, each one of them has 130 seats, between supporters and oppositionists, and both lack an absolute majority." If we move the issue to parliament, "the solution would be to end the objection to Al-Ja'fari or for the [the United Iraqi] Alliance to reconsider its plan, or one of the blocs from the other side to side with one of the two parties." He added, "Time is a sensitive factor, and the Constitution addressed this situation by establishing a time frame to avoid such dangers. Since the Alliance participated in writing the constitution and for national considerations, abidance by the constitution is necessary to stop individuals and parties from slipping away from the track."

Commenting on statements of some politicians against the intervention of religious leaders in politics, Abd-al-Mahdi said, "The Marja'iyah [Al-Sistani] does not interfere in the details and no one can ask him not to intervene, particularly if his aim is to protect the people and to narrow the differences in views. To suggest that the marja'iyah in Al-Najaf is the only one that is playing such a role is wrong, because religious leaders in all countries of the world play a role in managing politics."

As for the struggle between foreign forces to dominate Iraq or to preserve their interests in the country, he said: "Of course, there are foreign forces. All countries are interested in the future of Iraq tactically, strategically, regionally, and internationally. All are active in the field. This is normal, but what is abnormal is for this struggle to take an illegal course that violates the supreme national will and interest of the country. In today's world, interests are reciprocal and they must be ensured and dealt with in a civilized and balanced way."

Abd-al-Mahdi denied reports and leaks that he refused to sign the president's first invitation to convene the parliament. He said, "I signed the invitation to convene the parliament on 12 March, based on the opinion of the higher judicial council, to provide the political and legal basis after I consulted the federal court, which is our authority in any dispute."

He revealed, "The security situation is moving in a thorny way and consisting of many contradictions. While the performance of the security services is improving and their control on the ground inside the cities and along the international borders is expanding in a positive way, a foreign element is trying to push the people to escalate the situation. The two sides now have greater capability to stir up emotions. The fear now is for a repetition of the attack on the Samarra shrines in another place to stir up emotions and move people towards the abyss. However, in this respect, we are wagering on the role of the marja'iyah to foil this chance and exploit the positive aspect of security."

Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East

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