Epic political battle over, Nouri al-Maliki now must cobble together a government from competing factions that remain deeply divided.
By Steven Lee Myers
BAGHDAD — Iraq's president formally nominated Nouri al-Maliki for a second term as prime minister Thursday, giving him 30 days to cobble together a government from competing factions that remain deeply divided and suspicious of him.
President Jalal Talabani had nominated Maliki when Iraq's new parliament met in a stormy session two weeks ago. But he delayed the formal designation until Thursday to give Maliki more time to negotiate with competing parliamentary blocs.
Talabani announced the nomination in a televised ceremony. He was joined by leaders of all the major parties except Maliki's main rival, Ayad Allawi, a Shiite whose secular coalition was backed by most of Iraq's Sunnis.
Talabani called on Maliki to form "a new government that we hope will be a government of national partnership and will not exclude anyone."
The elections were March 7, but legal challenges and political squabbling delayed first the results and then the convening of the parliament.
Even if Maliki meets the 30-day deadline in late December — which isn't a certainty, given the chronic disregard for legal deadlines in Iraqi politics — the country will have spent more than nine months under a caretaker government without a functioning legislature. Many of Iraq's most critical needs, including basic services, have gone unaddressed during the impasse.
Maliki, 60, a Shiite first elected as prime minister in 2006, appealed Thursday for unity. He urged political leaders "to overcome the disputes from the past, to put them behind us and to open a new page of cooperation in building the country."
As he prepared to lead Iraq through a pivotal four-year period marked by the planned withdrawal of the last U.S. troops, Maliki emphasized the need to support Iraqi security forces "in their difficult mission" against insurgents. He didn't mention the U.S. or its role assisting those forces.
Maliki's formal nomination begins what is expected to be a period of jockeying for control of agencies.
Under the compromise that returned Maliki to power, parliamentary leaders assigned points to each party based on the number of seats each won, as well as points for each position in the new government.
The more senior posts in what are known as the "sovereign ministries" — overseeing foreign affairs, finance, oil and defense, for example — are worth more points than the service ministries, such as health and agriculture.
Iraqi officials and political analysts describe the process as a bazaar, with power, influence and control of budgets being bartered over.
"If the government allocates $7 billion to the Ministry of Culture today, tomorrow it will become a sovereign ministry," said Ibrahim al-Sumadaie, an unsuccessful candidate for parliament. "Everybody is after the money. Nobody cares about the ministry itself."
source: http://www.statesman.com/
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