Iraq’s political deadlock appeared to have been broken last night when the prime minister-designate, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, submitted a draft list of cabinet ministers to President Jalal Talabani.
If approved, the list will clear the way for a government to be formed almost three months after landmark elections, restoring momentum to a political process mired in bickering between rival blocs.
Jaafari completed the list on Tuesday afternoon.
The 32 names were not expected to be revealed until Wednesday when they will be formally presented to the presidency council, comprising the president and two vice presidents.
The prime minister’s spokesperson, Abdul Razak al-Kadhi, appeared relieved and there was speculation that the Cabinet could be approved by a parliamentary vote as early as Wednesday if the presidency council gave its assent.
There was no immediate reaction from leading Shia, Kurdish and Arab Sunni groups, prompting analysts to caution that this could turn out to be a shortlived breakthrough if there was strong opposition to the list.
The January election generated a widespread sense of optimism that Iraqis had begun to take charge of a country ravaged by an insurgency against the US-led occupation.
On Wednesday night General Richard Myers, the chairperson of the United States joint chiefs of staff, told a Pentagon briefing that the political progress was the key to beating rebels, as he revealed that Iraq’s insurgency remained undiminished from a year ago.
On Tuesday, in the latest hostage crisis, Iraqi militants threatening to kill three Romanian journalists and an American hostage issued a new video, extending the deadline until Wednesday for Romania to withdraw its 800 troops, al-Jazeera television said.
Two of the hostages, Romanian Sorin Miscoci and Iraqi-American Mohammed Monaf, were seen in the video wearing orange jumpsuits — which kidnappers in the past have put on their hostages when they kill them.
After January’s election, the cleric-backed Shia bloc, which won a slim majority in the 275-seat assembly, nominated Jaafari to be prime minister and agreed to give the presidency to Talabani, the head of the Kurdish bloc, which came second.
But sharing Cabinet posts proved more contentious, especially the ministries of interior, defence, oil and foreign affairs. As squabbling dragged on, rebels shattered a relative lull in violence with a series of bombings and shootings which have claimed hundreds of lives in recent weeks.
The caretaker government of the outgoing prime minister, Ayad Allawi, limped on, but officials complained of being unable to take decisions about the counter-insurgency and improving basic services. The US had promised to keep its distance from the negotiations, but last week the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and the Vice President, Dick Cheney, told the Shias and Kurds to hurry up.
The Shia alliance was expected to fill 17 of the 32 Cabinet seats, including the oil ministry and the interior ministry. The Kurds were expected to take seven or eight posts, including foreign affairs and planning. Arab Sunnis would take most of the rest.
”Negotiations between Sunnis are still under way. We asked for seven posts and the brothers [Shias] gave us six,” said Saleh al-Mutliq, a spokesperson for one Sunni group, the National Dialogue Council. Even if a government is formed this week the delay may have left parliament too little time to meet an August deadline to approve a draft Constitution. The draft is to be voted on in a referendum, leading to an election in December.
There is a legal provision to postpone the deadline for the draft by six months but Washington fears that would also push back the election.
The delay has left a question mark over Jaafari’s leadership and the new government’s cohesion. The prime minister’s Shia bloc wants a centralised state with an Islamic bent. The Kurds, suspicious of their ally’s Iranian ties, want a more secular state which recognises their autonomy over northern regions.
The Kurds wanted Allawi, a secular Shia, in the government. Jaafari appeared to have prevailed in keeping out his predecessor’s bloc, saying its demand for four Cabinet posts was too greedy. He also faced down Arab Sunnis who wanted former Ba’athists in the Cabinet, drawing the line at including members of the ousted regime. – Guardian Unlimited Â