wrebiejo
04-04-2010, 07:39 PM
April 02, 2010, 7:52 AM EDT
By Nayla Razzouk
April 2 (Bloomberg) -- Iraq’s former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, whose party won the most seats in last month’s election, got backing from a powerful Shiite Muslim group in his bid to form a government.
Allawi’s secular Iraqiya bloc won 91 seats to the 89 secured by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite State of Law group in March 7 parliamentary elections. The two rivals are battling for the right to become prime minister and need to secure allies to obtain a majority of 163 seats.
Shiite cleric Ammar al-Hakim, whose Iraqi National Alliance came in third with 70 seats, said all four main political blocs including the fourth-placed Kurds should form the next administration. “We will not participate in a government that does not include Iraqiya,” he said in comments posted late yesterday on his party’s Web site.
Allawi, who won a lot of support from the Sunni Muslim minority that dominated Iraq under ousted leader Saddam Hussein, on March 30 accused neighboring Shiite power Iran of trying to keep him out of office by promoting an alliance between the Shiites and Kurdish parties. Since then, both the Kurds and al- Hakim have called for an inclusive power-sharing government.
Analysts say Al-Maliki has made himself unpopular as he centralized control since 2006 and clashed with rival Shiites and the Kurds, who rule an autonomous northern region.
Assertive Leader
“He has become an assertive leader, with more than a whiff of authoritarianism about him, and has made some real enemies among former supporters,” the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said in a commentary on its Web site.
Kurdistan Regional President Massoud Barzani, who leads one of the two Kurdish parties which together came fourth in the election with 43 seats, yesterday also called for a broad-based coalition including the four largest political groups.
Al-Hakim in a conference two days ago called Allawi “a brother, a dear friend, and a partner who was our ally for decades against the Saddamist dictatorship,” according to footage broadcast today by Al-Arabiya television network.
A vetting committee on March 29 sought to disqualify six winning candidates because of alleged ties to the outlawed Baath Party of Saddam Hussein. Four of the six are from Allawi’s bloc, the Associated Press reported, citing a committee member. Losing his two-seat lead may deprive Allawi of the chance of seeking to form a government.
Allawi said in a March 31 interview with CNN that efforts to exclude him from power risk causing a “serious backlash” that could rekindle violence.
Clashes between Sunnis and Shiites degenerated into full- scale sectarian warfare after 2005. The security situation has improved since 2007, encouraging U.S. President Barack Obama to plan the withdrawal of about half of the 96,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by the end of August. The remaining U.S. forces will leave in 2011.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-02/iraq-s-allawi-wins-backing-from-shiite-party-in-coalition-bid.html
By Nayla Razzouk
April 2 (Bloomberg) -- Iraq’s former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, whose party won the most seats in last month’s election, got backing from a powerful Shiite Muslim group in his bid to form a government.
Allawi’s secular Iraqiya bloc won 91 seats to the 89 secured by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite State of Law group in March 7 parliamentary elections. The two rivals are battling for the right to become prime minister and need to secure allies to obtain a majority of 163 seats.
Shiite cleric Ammar al-Hakim, whose Iraqi National Alliance came in third with 70 seats, said all four main political blocs including the fourth-placed Kurds should form the next administration. “We will not participate in a government that does not include Iraqiya,” he said in comments posted late yesterday on his party’s Web site.
Allawi, who won a lot of support from the Sunni Muslim minority that dominated Iraq under ousted leader Saddam Hussein, on March 30 accused neighboring Shiite power Iran of trying to keep him out of office by promoting an alliance between the Shiites and Kurdish parties. Since then, both the Kurds and al- Hakim have called for an inclusive power-sharing government.
Analysts say Al-Maliki has made himself unpopular as he centralized control since 2006 and clashed with rival Shiites and the Kurds, who rule an autonomous northern region.
Assertive Leader
“He has become an assertive leader, with more than a whiff of authoritarianism about him, and has made some real enemies among former supporters,” the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said in a commentary on its Web site.
Kurdistan Regional President Massoud Barzani, who leads one of the two Kurdish parties which together came fourth in the election with 43 seats, yesterday also called for a broad-based coalition including the four largest political groups.
Al-Hakim in a conference two days ago called Allawi “a brother, a dear friend, and a partner who was our ally for decades against the Saddamist dictatorship,” according to footage broadcast today by Al-Arabiya television network.
A vetting committee on March 29 sought to disqualify six winning candidates because of alleged ties to the outlawed Baath Party of Saddam Hussein. Four of the six are from Allawi’s bloc, the Associated Press reported, citing a committee member. Losing his two-seat lead may deprive Allawi of the chance of seeking to form a government.
Allawi said in a March 31 interview with CNN that efforts to exclude him from power risk causing a “serious backlash” that could rekindle violence.
Clashes between Sunnis and Shiites degenerated into full- scale sectarian warfare after 2005. The security situation has improved since 2007, encouraging U.S. President Barack Obama to plan the withdrawal of about half of the 96,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by the end of August. The remaining U.S. forces will leave in 2011.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-02/iraq-s-allawi-wins-backing-from-shiite-party-in-coalition-bid.html