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Shia lawmakers choose Jaafari for Prime Minister

Leaders set to begin the difficult task of government formation

— PHOTO: AP

NARROW MARGIN: (From left) Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq's National Security Adviser Muafq al-Rubaye, chief of the conservative Shia United Iraqi Alliance Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, and Vice-President Adel Abdel Mehdi at a press conference in Baghdad on Sunday.

DUBAI: The United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the Shia grouping that has won the maximum number of seats in Iraq's parliamentary elections, has picked Ibrahim al-Jaafari as its candidate for Prime Minister.

Mr. Jaafari defeated his rival, Vice-President Adel Abdel Mahdi, by a single vote in internal elections held on Sunday, in which 100 lawmakers participated. The voting took place at the fortified residence of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the pro-Iran Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the party to which Mr. Mahdi belongs.

Al-Sadr wields clout

Shia lawmakers had to resort to balloting as they failed to agree on a common candidate during lengthy negotiations. Sunday's vote showed the growing clout of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, as it was his group that swung the vote finally in Mr. Jaafari's favour.

Under the Iraqi Constitution, the President and two Vice-Presidents choose a Prime Minister from the group with the most MPs, pending a simple majority approval in Parliament.

Mr. Jaafari, who was also Prime Minister in the outgoing government which had been appointed for a year to draft a new Constitution and conduct a national referendum to approve it, is likely to remain Prime Minister for a full four-year term.

Shia and Sunni religious parties along with the Kurdish Alliance have done well in the elections, where the secular parties of Iyad Allawi and Ahmed Chalabi were completely marginalised. The Kurds, who have won 53 seats, are likely to support the UIA, which secured 128 seats. The Sunni religious parties won 80 seats.

Following the contest, Shia leaders will begin the difficult task of government formation, which might take months to complete. "We have achieved our first mission, to nominate the alliance candidate for Prime Minister. We must now move ahead with the next step, which is the formation of the new government," Jawad al-Maliki of the Dawa Party to which Mr. Jaafari belongs said.

Atul Aneja

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