BAQUBA: “We’re fed up waiting for the new government,” an Iraqi engineer said on Saturday as politicians continued to haggle over the make-up of the new cabinet 12 weeks after the country’s first free elections in half a century. “More than 100 cardinals in Rome, who had a much tougher job, were able to come up (with a pope) within two days,” said Amar Hassan, 40. “There’s no reason why our lot should take so long.” With bombings and shootings bloodying the streets, ordinary Iraqis feel it is time for politicians to stop bickering and start saving the country.
“How can you hope for better security when politicians are incapable of cooperating,” Hassan said in the restive town of Baquba, 60 kilometres northeast of the capital.
The Jan 30 elections, the first such democratic exercise in more than 50 years, were won by Shias, who form 60 per cent of the population and the Kurds, while many Sunnis, dominant under ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, boycotted the polls.
Negotiations on forming a new government under the leadership of Ibrahim Jaafari, named prime minister by the Shiite-based United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), kicked off in earnest in late February.
Named prime minister designate by parliament on April 7, Jaafari had a month to come up with a cabinet, according to the country’s interim constitution, but his efforts are mired by bickering among Iraq’s various factions. If he has not assembled a government by May 7, the entire matter kicks back to parliament.
“I’m frustrated with the delay in forming the government,” Iraq’s new President, former Kurd rebel leader Jalal Talabani, said on Friday.
A US official in Baghdad echoed the sentiment.
“I believe that a lot of political momentum, generated by the successful elections that was a punch to the guts of the insurgents, has worn off,” the official warned. “The best way to undermine the insurgency is to maintain political momentum.”
“We want an inclusive government, but it is up to the Iraqis to determine which groups are negotiated in and which groups remain out,” he added.
Some Iraqis doubted however that the new government would be able to distance itself from its US patron, at least so long as the security situation does not improve.
“I think the Americans are controlling the situation,” said Aziz Abbas, a 55-year-old carpenter in Baghdad.
“The main thing we need is security ... and to stop the insurgents, we need a stong government,” he said, adding that there were no such problems under Saddam.
“The political situation isn’t good. They’re taking a long time to form a government,” said Omed Karim, a 29-year-old Kurd who works in a Baghdad restaurant.
“We’re in a vaccuum because of the delay in forming the government,” said Saleh Mahdi, a 51-year-old baker. “You hear all sorts of things reading the papers and watching television. But it’s more as if we’re lost in the desert.”
Iraqi Shias and Kurds, who want a government of national unity, say they have been bending over backwards to include Sunnis and members of the transitional government of outgoing prime minister Iyad Allawi.
But members of the Allawi faction said on Friday they would only join the new government if they were given five cabinet posts, including a deputy premiership.
“These are our demands and, if they are not satisfied, we cannot participate in the government,” said the head of Allawi’s negotiating team, Rasem Awady.
Allawi’s Iraqiya list took just 40 of the 275 seats in parliament, less than the UIA with 146 and the main Kurdish bloc 77.
Observers suggested most horse-trading centres on the allocation of key posts, including the interior, defence, oil and reconstruction ministries.
“Some of the delay is due to parties trying to call into question the Shias’ ability to lead the country,” one journalist in Baquba said.
“It could be Shia leaders are making a mistake in trying to get everyone on board. It’s a little surprising to want to include in the government those who lost the elections.”—AFP
