BAGHDAD, March 16: Iraq’s new parliament opened on Thursday three months after elections but continuing deadlock on forming a government and choosing a speaker forced the chamber to adjourn after only a brief session.
The session, held deep inside Baghdad’s fortified ‘Green Zone’ protected by walls, razor wire and troops, lasted just 40 minutes and was adjourned after the 275 members of the national assembly were collectively sworn in.
The summoning of parliament was meant to provide new momentum to talks between rival Shia, Sunni and Kurdish factions on forming a coalition at a time of worsening sectarian violence which threatens to trigger civil war.
The latest sign of such blood-letting came when authorities announced the discovery of 25 corpses — men who had been shot to death and dumped in different parts of the capital. At least 80 more were found earlier in the week.
Communal violence has left hundreds dead since a shrine was blown up on Feb 22.
Addressing parliament, Adnan Pachachi, 83, who presided as eldest member, said the session would adjourn until political parties could agree on who was to be elected speaker.
“It has been decided to leave the session open pending political agreement on the designation of a speaker and his two deputies,” said the former foreign minister.
Outgoing speaker Hajem al-Hassani said “it is difficult to chose a new speaker and his deputies until a deal is reached on the whole government package.”
The streets of the capital were eerily quiet with traffic barred to keep car bombers at bay, while police and army units multiplied their checkpoints across the city.
The government told civil servants to take a holiday and many other residents bunkered down at home, fearing attacks by insurgents bent on proving the caretaker government cannot guarantee security. Most shops remained closed.
Iraq’s new parliament, elected on Dec 15 as the first to serve a full four-year term since the US-led war ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003, will again be dominated by the Shia United Iraqi Alliance, which can count on the support of 130 MPs.
The Kurdish coalition has 53 seats, while various Sunni parties control 55 seats. Secular-based and minority parties hold the remaining seats.
All factions, egged on by US authorities, have called for the formation of a government of national unity, but have so far failed to even agree on who would lead the next cabinet.
Outgoing Shia Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari suggested that forming the cabinet might take only another month.
“If we stick to the constitution, it shouldn’t take much more than a month,” he told reporters.
“But of course if one tries to go outside the constitution to set up new executive bodies, then that will take much longer,” he added.
Three years after the invasion of the country, US authorities are deeply worried the situation could yet worsen.
Iraq is “an awful long way” from civil war, but the danger will grow without agreement on a national unity government, the commander of US forces in the Middle East told Congress.
“The longer the government takes to develop, the less confidence there’ll be within the security forces” that unity will be maintained, General John Abizaid said.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice maintained that Iraq would be a success story as she faced student anti-war protests in Australia, one of the US’s closest allies.
“I think there is a very good chance that the Iraqi people with the support of their coalition partners will build the foundation, or have built the foundation, for a stable and secure Iraq over the next couple of years,” she said. —AFP
