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Iraq

Iraq parliament fails to elect new speaker

2009-02-09

BAGHDAD - Iraq’s parliament remained deadlocked on the election of a new speaker on Sunday, just two days after US Vice President Joe Biden said Iraq needed to push ahead with political reform. The failure is a blow to the fledgling democracy which without a speaker cannot debate or approve a new budget and oil laws deemed crucial to the reconstruction of the country. There are five candidates vying for the post, but rival Sunni politicians cannot agree on who should get the job. “A group of parties left the hall today and there were not enough MPs to choose a new speaker,” said Jamal al-Butikh, chief of the National Iraqi List, the parliamentary group headed by former prime minister Iyad Allawi. Outspoken Mahmud Mashhadani quit as speaker on December 23, triggering political wrangling over a replacement. He resigned after Kurdish and Shiite MPs clamoured for him to go because he had described some lawmakers as “sons of dogs” in fierce debates about the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former US president George W. Bush. Butikh said MPs would reconvene on Monday to try and break the impasse. Under Iraq’s complex political rules, Sunni Arabs have the right to nominate the speaker but bitter infighting in the largest Sunnni Arab bloc, the National Concord Front, has seen them unable to agree on the best candidate.

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Iraq

Talks to Form New Iraqi Government postponed

2006-01-08

Talks to form a new Iraqi government have been postponed until after the Adha holiday “because a number of politicians taking part in the talks are currently performing Hajj [pilgrimage]”, according to Fuad Masum, a leading member of Iraqi President Jalal Talbani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, who participated in the ongoing discussions between the Kurdish Alliance List and other Iraqi political parties. Talbani had received Iyad Allawi, former Iraqi premier, on Friday, at his office in Baghdad . A source close to the president told Asharq al Awsat the “meeting was part of the exerted effort by the president as the sponsor of the political process to reach a national unity government, in which all Iraqi groups from across the political spectrum will participate, and to resolve problems by national consensus.” National unity governments don't have a real good record of being effective. I think they're trying to please everybody, and they're going to end up pleasing nobody. The Shiites are going to feel cheated, and the Sunnis are going to feel like they shot their way into power, which means they'll do the same thing every time they can't have their way in the future. For his part, the head of the National Iraqi List underlined the president’s proposals as “the right solution for political stability in the country” and pointed out the talks focused on general principles and not details concerning the formation of a new government. Masum hinted, in a statement to Asharq al Awsat, from his offices in Sulaymaniyah, in Iraqi Kurdistan, that the “Kurdish leadership is exerting its efforts to include Allawi’s list in the next government” and expressed his opinion that the former premier “might refuse to participate in person but members of his list” could take part. Allawi's not going to satisfy the Muslim Scholars, though. Way too secular for them... The meetings held in Iraqi Kurdistan, whether in al Sulaymaniyah or in Irbil, “were not official but bilateral talks to share the views of two of the largest blocs in the next Iraqi parliament, the Kurdish bloc and the Iraqi Coalition,” Masum told Asharq al Awsat, adding that, “Our brothers in the Iraqi political blocs did not come to Kurdistan on official visits but were welcomed by the Kurdish leadership.” Did they ride the horses they came to trade? “It is well known that relations between the Kurdish leadership, represented by President Talbani and Masud Barzani, the president of Kurdistan region and head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, are strong, deep-rooted and historic. We have no sensitivity towards anyone. The Kurdish bloc will be influential in the next parliament, since it won 60 seats. Its will therefore have a say in the discussion to form the next government,” he said. The Kurdish leader went on to say the “Coalition will nominate the next prime minister because it is the biggest bloc in parliament. We do have no objections to their nominations which will be discussed during official talks with all parties. The strongest candidates for this post are the outgoing Prime Minister Ibrahim al Jaafari followed by Vice President Adil Abdul Mahdi.” Masum also indicated that the Kurdish bloc intended to seek control of one of the two chief posts- the president and prime minister- should the Coalition not agree one a single candidate for the post of premier. It would also seek to control the foreign minister portfolio and other ministries.

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Iraq

Iraqi Sunni Leader Threatens 'Civil War'

2005-12-27

Sheikh Khalaf al-Alyan, chairman of the (Sunni) National Dialogue Council (NDC), has threatened to ignite civil war if matters do not return back to normal and they (the Sunnis) are not given their elections rights. He accused persons in the Higher Iraqi Elections Commission and in the (Shiite) Unified Iraqi Coalition that is led by Abdulaziz al-Hakim who is also leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution, of rigging the elections results and committing major violations. On his part, Dr. Hussein al-Hindawi, the Higher Elections Commission chairman, admitted that there were violations whose victims were the National Iraqi List that is led by Dr. Iyad Allawi. Looks like they're chosing up sides now. Al-Alyan's movement the NDC entered into an alliance with the People of Iraq Council that is led by Dr. Adnan al-Dulaymi and the Iraqi Islamic Party that is led by Hamid Abdal Muhsin and formed a broad Sunni coalition called Al-Tawafuq. He said, "We have informed the Commission of the violations that took place during the elections, especially in Baghdad. We also informed the US side, the United Nations, and the Arab League. Our stand is known: Either hold the elections again or change them to give us our rights." I suspect there might be a shred of truth to what he's hollering about. I still don't discount the NYT story on the Medes and the Persians shipping stuffed ballot boxes to Iraq. Speaking by telephone to "Asharq al-Awsat" yesterday, he said, "We are not going to let things go in the coming stage and there must be a solution. Either we obtain our rights of participation in the Assembly, as we deserve, or withdraw. We will not allow the formation of a national assembly and will not remain spectators or oppositionists but rest assured that it will turn into civil war, may God save us from its end. All the Iraqi nationalists will be in a resistance front against these tendencies (he meant the Shiite Coalition)." Now the question becomes whether they're going to actually engage in Armed Struggle™ to gain their putative rights. While I don't discount the NYT story, it's also possible it was a setup for just this routine. They're not real big on the concept of "loyal opposition," but even in an Arab country they need some sort of pretext. But they could also be making faces and jumping up and down in their inimitable Sunni manner to exact concessions that they had no chance for in the actual balloting. Al-Alyan added, "Our rights are known and we are convinced that the elections were rigged, especially in Baghdad where we had areas in the capital that were totally closed to us. We were excepting to exceed the Coalition by more than 300,000 votes. However, the result now is the Coalition exceeding us by 1 million votes and this is quite unreasonable. Our calculations were accurate and documented in the centers and from the first count. We do not accept any other result unless it tallies with the facts we know. We will not allow the formation of parliament or national government unless they give us back our rights, either by holding the elections again all over Iraq or in Baghdad. The important thing is to have our rights given back to us."

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Iraq

Car bomb kills five Iraqis in Baghdad

2005-12-19

Five Iraqis were killed, 10 were wounded, on Sunday in a car bomb explosion in central Baghdad, announced the Iraqi police. An Iraqi police source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that a car driven by a suicide attacker blew up nearby an Iraqi police checkpoint nearby the Iraqi Interior Ministry building in central Baghdad. The source added that most of the victims were members of the Iraqi police force. In a separate incident, two Iraqis were killed, 17 were wounded, today when an explosive device went off in the area of Kadhemiya, northern Baghdad. An Iraqi police source told reporters that a roadside bomb blew up nearby Imam Moussa Al-Kadhem, noting that victims of the blast included women and children. Meanwhile, a group of unknown gunmen attacked the residence of member of the National Iraqi List Ayad Jamaluddine in the area of Jaderiya in central Baghdad. A source in the electoral list said that the attackers used guns and rocket-propelled grenades, noting that the attackers wounded two guards, damaged a number of cars, and caused some damages to the residence. The source did not mention whether Jamaluddine was in his residence at the time of the attack. Meanwhile, Iraqi police sources said that unknown gunmen abducted the brother of Minister of State for Governorates Affairs Saad Al-Hardan in the area of Ramadi in Anbar Province, western Iraq.

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Iraq

Hammorabi Election Results

2005-12-18

...Lastly the preliminary results of the present election are as follows: The Iraqi Coalition (Hakem/Jafari) achieved 58-85% in 9 Southern provinces, in Baghdad and in Diyala. The Kurdish Alliances achieved 65-80% in the 3 Northern provinces. Kurdish voters moved away from the Alliance to some other small parties which had more voices this time. The National Iraqi List (Allawi) achieved the second to third place in some regions especially in some regions of Baghdad. The major changes this time is in the Sunni parties by gaining a lot of voices in at least 4 provinces including Mosel and Kurkuk. They are the second in Diyala and in Basrah and some parts of Baghdad. The Sunni parties are now making one alliance and they will achieve much more seats than last time in the new Assembly. They may get something around 40 seats or even more. One of the most noticeable things is that some of the Sunni leaders like Mithal Al-Alowsi party (the Party of Iraqi Nation) achieved quite considerable amount of voices in the Shiite regions. It was reported that it achieved the third place in Karbala where there are 100% Shiite population and many Shiite parties. This is a good indication that many Iraqis are not looking for the faith of the person but for his program. This is the issue for many like Al-Alowsi, Sadoon Al-Doliami, Sheikh Mahmood Al-Eisawi and many other Sunni Iraqis who are against terrorism. We hope that the Electoral Department will announce the results sooner rather than latter.

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