New Iraq goverment launched in days !!???

[BRYAN]

Iraq may get government soon

LONG PROCESS: Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq's likely new prime minister, said that an Iraqi government may finally emerge after two months of wrangling over who gets what

AP , BAGHDAD
Monday, Mar 28, 2005,Page 7

US Representative David Dreier, left, gestures toward Ibrahim al-Jaafari, likely next Iraqi Prime Minister, during a visit by a US congressional delegation to the Green Zone in Baghdad, on Saturday. Jaafari said that the Iraq's new coalition government could be launched within days. :huge:
PHOTO: AFP

The Shiite Muslim politician likely to be Iraq's next prime minister said the country's long-awaited government could be formed within days, an accomplishment that would mark the end of nearly two months of tortured negotiations after the nation's first free elections in a half-century.

Iraqi politicians, however, have been reporting they were near a deal for at least a month.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/03/28/2003248097

[arh777]

POLITICAL STOP-START

Efforts to form a government two months after the Jan. 30 elections shuffled ahead on Monday, with Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders -- representing the two groups that did best in the ballot -- saying they were closer to deciding the top jobs.

A two-thirds majority in the 275-seat national assembly is needed to approve the top government posts, a ratio the Kurds and Shi'ites only have if they join forces. That mutual reliance has created tensions that have drawn out the formation of the government, with Iraqis increasingly frustrated by the delay.

The National Assembly, which met for the first time on March 16 but has not done so since, was due to reconvene on Tuesday.

Political sources have said the names of the country's president and two deputy presidents, as well as the assembly's speaker and two deputies should be announced at that meeting, and possibly the name of the prime minister.

With about 30 cabinet seats to decide, Shi'ites and Kurds are battling for the most influential ministries, while also trying to ensure that Sunni Arabs, most of whose supporters did not turn out to vote in the election, are not left out.

Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni Arab who is currently Iraq's president, was suggested by Shi'ites and Kurds as a candidate for speaker of the assembly. But aides said on Monday he had declined. Politicians were trying to agree on an alternative Sunni Arab candidate for the post.

There are serious concerns the insurgency could get worse if the Sunnis are seen to be marginalised in the composition the new government, and in the leadership of the assembly which will draft a new constitution.

Shi'ite politicians said Finance Minister Adel Abdel Mehdi was their candidate for one of the vice president posts, and Hussein al-Shahristani, a nuclear scientist who spent 12 years in Saddam's jails, was likely to be a deputy speaker.

But unless a candidate for speaker is agreed ahead of the assembly meeting, the gathering will make little progress.

(Additional reporting by Waleed Ibrahim, Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Mariam Karouny in Baghdad and Haider Abbas in Babil) ((Editing by Steve Pagani))

[ryandillon_04]

I saw on FOX News this morning a headline reading Presidential Visits and they were talking about the President Visiting Iraq, I missed the day and things, but it did catch my attention and then I had to leave to go to work so I would not be late!!!

[BRYAN]

Deadlock Delays Start of Iraq Parliament Meeting




Tuesday, March 29, 2005 5:06 a.m. ET

By Mariam Karouny and Khaled Yacoub Oweis

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi politicians delayed the start of a session of parliament on Tuesday for last-minute talks to try to overcome a damaging impasse over forming a government two months after historic elections.

Officials originally announced a one-hour postponement until midday (4 a.m. EST) but an hour after that the session had still not begun, with politicians unable to agree on who would take the key position of parliamentary speaker.

The Shi'ite Islamist alliance that came top in the election and the Kurdish coalition that came second have agreed that the post should go to a Sunni Arab, part of their efforts to reach out to the minority that dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein but has been left with little political representation.

Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni Arab who is currently Iraq's president, has turned down the post, officials say, and has not been persuaded to change his mind.

The 17 Sunni Arabs in the 275-member parliament favor Adnan al-Janabi as their candidate, but he is an ally of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi who has so far declined to join the government, saying his bloc will stay in opposition.

The Shi'ite alliance is backing Fawaz al-Jarba -- a Sunni who joined the mainly Shi'ite bloc. But other Sunnis are against this as he is seen as too close to the Shi'ite alliance, Sunni parliamentarian Meshaan Jibouri said.

"This is the fault of the Shi'ites and the Kurds who failed to bring Allawi into the government," he told Reuters.

Jibouri said that if Jarba was pushed through as speaker -- which the Shi'ites could do with their parliamentary majority -- other Sunni Arabs would walk out of the session, leaving attempts to draw them into politics in tatters.

If the assembly fails to agree on a speaker it will be another embarrassing setback. Many Iraqis are increasingly angry over the failure of politicians to agree a government two months after the polls. Several government officials say key projects are on hold and the delay is benefiting insurgents.

STALEMATE

Once a speaker is agreed, the 275-member National Assembly's next task will be to elect a president and two vice presidents. Two-thirds majorities are needed for that, which will mean the Shi'ites and Kurds must reach a deal to muster enough votes.

The presidential triumvirate will then have two weeks to choose a prime minister, who will then appoint a cabinet.

Hussein al-Shahristani, a Shi'ite nuclear scientist who spent 12 years in Saddam's jails, was expected to be named as one of the deputy speakers.

The Shi'ites and Kurds have broad agreement that Shi'ite Ibrahim Jaafari will be the next prime minister with veteran Kurdish politician Jalal Talabani taking the president's post.

The two vice presidents are expected to be interim Finance Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shi'ite, and the Sunni Arab Yawar.

But officials have not agreed on the distribution of cabinet posts. The Kurds are expected to retain the foreign ministry, with the defense ministry going to a Sunni Arab. But the key oil ministry is a source of disagreement -- the Kurds covet it, but the Shi'ite alliance insists it should get the ministry.

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=1010760

[BRYAN]

Iraq voters under pressure to name leaders

[World News] By BETH POTTER, UPI Baghdad Correspondent BAGHDAD, March 29 : Iraqi voters aren't happy.They don't care that some of the biggest political changes ever to happen in their lifetime are going on in their country. All they know is that the electricity still is off for hours every day, the water doesn't always flow out of the faucets, there are still long gas queues at the stations, and the situation still seems pretty lawless in the streets.

"We're very disappointed," said Hathem Hassan Thani, 31, a political science graduate student at Baghdad University."Some personalities are trying to make the political operation fail, and they don't want to give positions to the Sunni Muslims."

The fledgling 275-member parliament elected Jan. 30 failed to agree on who would be speaker Tuesday, after Sunni Muslim Ghazi al-Yawar, currently the interim president, declined the post.He and interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi stormed out of the session after it was closed to journalists.

"Al-Yawar did not want to lose his credibility as a politician.That's why he didn't come," said Hiba Jameel Mahmoud, 25, another political science student."Maybe we need to hold another election to make sure everybody is participating.

A Shiite-Muslim-dominated list, the United Iraqi Alliance, received almost 50 percent of the Jan. 30 vote to name a new national assembly.Ethnic Kurds in northern Iraq received another 27 percent.Sunni Muslims largely boycotted the vote, but now want to be involved in writing a new constitution.

Deep divides appeared between the assembly's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish members Tuesday morning, even before the session started.Shiites blamed Kurds and al-Yawar for holding up progress of forming a government.

"The Iraqi people are very itchy.The street is very nervous," said Saad Jawar Qindeel, a spokesman for the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq, one of two dominant religious-based parties that won the United Iraqi Alliance ticket."There's a lot of talk of people ready to protest."


http://athens-olympics-2004.newkerala.com/?action=fullnews&id=91818

[BRYAN]

Iraqi lawmakers regroup, aim to name parliament leaders by end of week


BAGHDAD, Iraq The political head-butting continues in Iraq, where lawmakers now hope to agree on parliament leaders within a few days.

Once they name their leaders, lawmakers can start focusing on their main task -- writing Iraq's new constitution.

http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3142092
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved

[MT Spirit]

It would appear that this article from the NYTimes and Bryan's article are also at odds in their perceptions of the "New Iraqi Government" 's positive progress.... According to the article referenced below... due to the current disagreements in setting up the new government... the written constitution could be delayed by six months... and subsequently delaying the next election...

It seems to me that the new Iraqi government has iscovered the meaning of democratic government: disagree... argue... delay... disagree... argue...delay... etc...





Delay Possible on Iraq Charter as Talks Falter
By EDWARD WONG

Published: March 30, 2005


BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 29 - A meeting of the Iraqi national assembly fell apart along ethnic and sectarian lines Tuesday after members began hurling angry accusations over the failure to form a government, and some leaders said the delay could push back a constitution and elections by half a year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/international/middleeast/30iraq.html?