Iraqi Shiites Agree On New PM Nominee
Shiite politicians agreed Friday to nominate Jawad al-Maliki as prime minister, replacing the incumbent in a bid to clear the way for a long-delayed new government.
Al-Maliki is one of the top figures in the Dawa Party, the same party as incumbent Ibrahim al-Jafaari. But Maliki is seen as more neutral and fairer, whereas many accused al-Jafaari of allowing sectarian death squads to menace the capital all this past year, CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier reports.
With the deal on al-Maliki, Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties were set to fill the other top posts of government in a parliament vote expected Saturday, said Humam Hammoudi, the spokesman for the Shiite alliance.
He said the Shiites had a "positive stance" for the Kurdish and Sunni nominees for president and parliament speaker.
Shiite lawmaker Ridha Jawad Taqi said all sides were agreed on a package deal for the top spots: Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, would remain as president for a second term, with Sunni Arab Tariq al-Hashemi and Shiite Adil Abdul-Mahdi holding the two vice-president spots.
Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni, would become parliament speaker with two deputies — Khalid al-Attiyah, a Shiite, and Aref Tayfour, a Kurd.
In other recent developments:
The new prime minister nominee will now face the task of putting together a national unity government to try to stem the violence that has increased in Iraq during the political chaos.
Once the president is approved by parliament, he will designate al-Maliki to form a government within 30 days. Lawmakers must then approve each member of the government by a majority vote.
Little is known about al-Maliki, says Dozier. But Sunni and Kurdish parties are said to accept him because they think he'll be fairer than al-Jafaari.
Part of the reason may be that while many of Iraq's Shiites fled Saddam's rule, to live in exile in Iran, al-Maliki fled to Syria, which makes Sunnis and Kurds think he's less apt to fall under the influence of Tehran.
Leaders of the seven parties that make up the Shiite alliance agreed on al-Maliki's nomination for prime minister in a meeting Friday evening, Hammoudi said.
Al-Maliki won the nomination with agreement from six of the parties, said Taqi. The seventh party, Fadhila, had presented its own candidate, but only five of seven parties were needed to win a "consensus" agreement on a nominee.
Sunnis appeared willing to take al-Maliki, after fiercely opposing a second term for al-Jaafari, who bowed out Thursday.
"If anyone is nominated except al-Jaafari, we won't put any obstacles in his way. He will receive our support," Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the main Sunni Arab coalition in parliament, told The Associated Press.
Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker, said the Kurdish parties had no opposition to al-Maliki.
The Shiites are the biggest bloc in parliament but lack the strength to govern without Sunni and Kurdish partners. As the biggest bloc, the Shiites get first crack at the prime minister's job.
Al-Jaafari had held out for weeks against increasing pressure on him to step aside.
Sunni and Kurdish politicians blamed the rise of sectarian tensions on al-Jaafari for failing to rein in Shiite militias and Interior Ministry commandoes, accused by the Sunnis of harboring death squads. Those parties refused to join any government headed by al-Jaafari.
He stepped down after Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, sent word that he should go, according to some lawmakers.
U.S officials are insisting that the Iraqis move quickly to form a new government to begin the task of confronting sectarian violence and armed insurgency. The U.S. hopes such a government will curb Iraq's slide toward anarchy and enable the U.S. to begin bringing home its 133,000 troops.