Iraq broke its political deadlock on Sunday when Parliament finally elected a speaker and paved the way for forming a new government nine weeks after the country’s election.
Deputies appeared relieved and buoyant after selecting Hajem al-Hassani, a Sunni Arab who is currently Industry Minister, to chair the 275-seat Assembly and belatedly open the next phase of naming a presidential council and Cabinet and writing a Constitution.
Some party leaders said a government will be formed within days, but continued wrangling between the Shia and Kurdish blocs that won the January 30 poll could leave the Prime Minister, Ayad Allawi’s, caretaker administration to limp on for several more weeks.
”We passed the first hurdle,” said al-Hassani. ”The Iraqi people have proven that they can overcome the political crisis that has plagued the country for the last two months.”
Protracted horse-trading over posts and policies had drained momentum from the election and prevented Parliament from selecting a speaker, turning its sitting last week into a shouting match.
On Sunday, all went smoothly, lifting the mood in Baghdad’s convention centre, the Assembly’s temporary residence in the heavily fortified green zone, despite a nearby mortar that made a loud bang but caused little damage.
Al-Hassani won 215 votes in a secret ballot after power brokers in all the main groups backed his candidacy. The once-privileged Sunni Arab minority has become alienated since a United States-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein two years ago.
Giving the speakership to a Sunni is an attempt to coax Sunnis into politics and away from the insurgency. Al-Hassani, an affable, conciliatory figure, was applauded when he urged deputies to pledge ”allegiance to the country and the people, not to the party or the sect or the ethnicity”.
A Shia former nuclear scientist, Hussain al-Shahristani, and a Kurdish official, Aref Taifour, were elected deputy speakers.
Back-room deals have earmarked the ceremonial post of president for a Kurd, Jalal Talabani, and the prime ministership for a Shia, Ibrahim al-Jaafari. They could be appointed as early as Wednesday when Parliament is due to reconvene.
It must elect a three-man presidency council, which in turn will nominate a prime minister, who will have two weeks to choose his Cabinet and present it to Parliament.
But haggling over who are to be deputy presidents, deputy prime ministers and ministers of defence, interior and finance could produce another stalemate. A cleric-backed alliance representing the long-oppressed majority Shias won a slim majority of seats. Hardliners with Iranian links want an Islamic republic and a purge of former regime loyalists, which worries Sunnis.
To secure the premiership for al-Jaafari, the Shias need a two-thirds majority, which means courting the Kurds, who came second in the election and are in a strong position to win federal status and oil revenues for their northern autonomous region.
Kurds are also pressing to keep Allawi in government. A secular-minded Shia, he has reservations about joining any coalition headed by al-Jaafari and other Islamists. Kurds say there can be no national unity government without some job for the current prime minister.
Mahmoud Othman, a senior Kurdish deputy, said Sunday’s appointment of a speaker was an important, if overdue, first step.
”It will put some momentum into the process of government. It will give people hope.”
The most important task of the Assembly will be to draft a permanent Constitution, which according to the transitional law should be ready by August 15. The Constitution must then be put to a referendum and, if passed, fresh elections will be held by the end of the year.
Quotas kept a third of the seats on the Assembly for women, but so far women have been overlooked for the top jobs.
”It is disappointing,” said Songul Chapuk, an independent Turkoman deputy who has nominated herself for deputy president. — Guardian Unlimited Â