Saturday, October 16th 2010
Al-Iraqiya withdraws threat to boycott a Maliki-led government
Baghdad, A member of the al-Iraqiya List led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, announced on Saturday a new round of intensive talks with all political blocs on the Iraqi arena to resolve the government formation crisis, and affirmed the bloc’s resolve to participate in the country’s decision making.
Al-Iraqiya withdraws threat to boycott a Maliki-led government
Baghdad, A member of the al-Iraqiya List led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, announced on Saturday a new round of intensive talks with all political blocs on the Iraqi arena to resolve the government formation crisis, and affirmed the bloc’s resolve to participate in the country’s decision making.
In an interview with AKnews, Al-Iraqiya parliament member Izzedin al-Dawla reiterated his bloc’s belief in the need for change, but said that they now consider that withdrawing from the political process will do nothing to serve the country’s interests.
Al-Iraqiya must, Dawla said, “have an active role in political decision-making and will refuse to depend on one source for the decision making.”Following its emergency meeting held in Baghdad on the eve of Nouri al-Maliki's nomination for premiership candidacy last month, al-Iraqiya officially announced its refusal to participate in a government headed by the out-going PM.
The al-Iraqiya list then looked to the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq (ISCI) and the Fadila Party from the National Coalition (NC) who both opposed Maliki's nomination, with a view to forming a larger coalition.
Now that it appears likely that Maliki’s bid for the country’s leadership will be successful, al-Iraqiya is looking for ways to distribute power more evenly across the political spectrum.
“New mechanisms will be discussed to create a convergence in order to resolve the government formation crisis”, Dawla said.
Al-Iraqiya secured the first position in the March elections with 91 seats but was blocked from forming the government by a federal court ruling that defined the biggest bloc as the one with the most seats when parliament convened.
The ensuing political maneuvering in Baghdad saw Nouri al-Maliki’s SLC, which came a close second with 89 parliamentary seats, joining forces with the Iraqi National Alliance (INA) to form the NC.
The two blocs are competing for the country’s leadership, embodied by the Prime Minister’s office for which neither Maliki nor Allawi have been willing to relinquish claim.
This tense rivalry has already delayed the constitution of the new government for seven months.
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/4/188750/
