The New Iraqi Prime Minister
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in The War On Terrorism, War
Jawad al-Maliki is the guy.
From the NY Times:
Officials with rival political blocs said tonight that despite earlier misgivings about Mr. Maliki they intended to support him when the Iraqi Parliament convenes on Saturday afternoon.Once the Parliament agrees on other leaders, Mr. Maliki will be asked to form a new government and cabinet. But there were conflicting reports about whether the major political groups had agreed on who would fill the senior posts that must be decided before a cabinet is formed, particularly speaker of the national assembly.
Just one day ago, Sunni Arab leaders and Kurdish officials had expressed a preference for the other Shiite politician who had been considered a strong candidate for nomination as prime minister, Ali al-Adeeb. They had described Mr. Maliki as too sectarian and inflexible to win wide support among other political groups.
But by this afternoon it was clear that Mr. Maliki, a longtime deputy of Mr. Jaafari and a highly visible spokesman and negotiator for the Shiite political alliance, would emerge as the nominee of the alliance, which controls nearly half of the seats in Parliament. By the time the seven parties within the alliance were polled tonight, Mr. Maliki had won support from six of them, Shiite officials said.
Expressing hope that the nation can finally move forward with forming a new government, rival political leaders said they intended to support Mr. Maliki.
More soon.
From the Wash Post, the BBC and Iraq The Model.
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