Update 28: Al-Jaafari Ally New Nominee for Iraq PM

Forbes & AP ^ | Friday, April 21, 2006 | QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

[stop_fascism]

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Shiite politicians agreed Friday to nominate Jawad al-Maliki as prime minister, replacing the incumbent in a bid to clear the way for a long-delayed new government, two Shiite officials said.

Al-Maliki is a top ally of outgoing Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, whose nomination had sparked sharp opposition from Sunni Arab and Kurdish leaders and caused a deadlock lasting months.

Leaders of the seven parties that make up the Shiite alliance agreed on al-Maliki's nomination in a meeting Friday evening, said Jalal Eddin al-Sagheer, a member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the largest party in the alliance.

Al-Maliki won the nomination with agreement from six of the parties, said another SCIRI official, Ridha Jawad Taqi. The seventh party, Fadhila, had presented its own candidate, but only five of seven parties were needed to win a "consensus" agreement on a nominee.

The Shiite nominee is to be presented to a session of parliament on Saturday.

If Sunni Arab and Kurdish parties accept al-Maliki — and some have indicated they will — it could be a breakthrough in the two-month standoff that has prevented the forming of a national unity government.

Al-Maliki is one of the top figures in al-Jaafari's Dawa party and has often appeared as his spokesman. Still, little is known about him since he fled Iraq in the 1980s, settling in Syria and working in Dawa's political office. He returned to Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

SCIRI and other parties in the alliance had initially expressed opposition to al-Maliki because it feared he would be unacceptable to Sunni Arabs.

Al-Maliki was a top official in the commission in charge of purging members of Saddam's ousted Baath Party from the military and government. Sunnis, who made up the backbone of the Baath Party, consider the commission a means of squeezing them out of influence in post-Saddam Iraq.

But the Dawa party warned of further problems within the alliance if al-Maliki were rejected after Dawa leader al-Jaafari was forced to give up the nomination.

Sunnis appeared willing to take al-Maliki, after fiercely opposing a second term for al-Jaafari, who bowed out Thursday.

"If anyone is nominated except al-Jaafari, we won't put any obstacles in his way. He will receive our support," Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the main Sunni Arab coalition in parliament, told The Associated Press.

Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker, said the Kurdish parties had no opposition to al-Maliki.

The Shiites are the biggest bloc in parliament but lack the strength to govern without Sunni and Kurdish partners. As the biggest bloc, the Shiites get first crack at the prime minister's job.

Al-Jaafari had held out for weeks against increasing pressure on him to step aside.

Sunni and Kurdish politicians blamed the rise of sectarian tensions on al-Jaafari for failing to rein in Shiite militias and Interior Ministry commandoes, accused by the Sunnis of harboring death squads. Those parties refused to join any government headed by al-Jaafari.

He stepped down after Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, sent word that he should go, according to some lawmakers.

U.S officials are insisting that the Iraqis move quickly to form a new government to begin the task of confronting sectarian violence and the armed insurgency. The Bush administration hopes such a government will curb Iraq's slide toward anarchy and enable the U.S. to begin bringing home its 133,000 troops.

[stop_fascism]

Anyone know about this guy?

[areafiftyone]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Jawad al-Maliki is an Iraqi politician and the deputy leader of the Islamic Dawa Party. In April 2006 he was nominated to be the prime minister of Iraq.

He was the senior Shi'ite member of the committee that drafted the new constitution in 2005. Prior to this he was the deputy leader of the De-Baathification Commission of the Iraqi Interim Government [1]

During the regime of Saddam Hussein, he lived in exile in Syria, where he headed the Dawa party office. He was elected chairman of the Joint Action Committee, a Damascas-based opposition coalition that led to the founding of the Iraqi National Congress, which the Dawa Party participated in from 1992-95. [2]

This article about an Iraqi politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[Kjobs]

Al-Maliki is a top ally of outgoing Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...

[CharlesWayneCT]

I know the MSM was trying to say he would be unacceptable to the others, but it sounds like he's OK with them.

I would think that having raised such a fuss, the other two groups wouldn't accede to someone even worse.

[areafiftyone]

The MSM won't be happy until someone like Saddam Hussein is in power that way they can say they were right about Iraq and Bush was wrong!

[george wythe]

This is good news. Finally, the Iraqis will get their act together and form a government.

[saganite]

Maybe, maybe not but it's encouraging to see the Sunnis and Kurds saying they will accept him. Getting the govt up and running there is extremely important right now.

[bert]

...I know the MSM was trying to say he would be unacceptable to the others, but it sounds like he's OK with them..........

This is interesting. It could be he is acceptable because it was necessary for the Sunnis to win a battle and ousting the PM was the victory. They appear to have successfully accomplished something meaningful, even if it acutually is not really so important.

[kabar]

It is very good news. The formation of an Iraqi government will suck a lot of air out the anti-war movement. If we can continue the current downward trend in US casualties over the past six months (April spike upwards aside) and the Iraqis continue to assume more of the security burden, we can start withdrawing some troops. That will have an impact on the mid-term elections.

[Migraine]

Al Malicki? I think he's a Polish dude. If so, I think he may be in over his head. /humor

[Redbob]

That "lived in Syria" bit should run up a red flag.

[Dave S]

It could be he is acceptable because it was necessary for the Sunnis to win a battle and ousting the PM was the victory. They appear to have successfully accomplished something meaningful, even if it acutually is not really so important.

The guy he is replacing as PM was an incredibly weak leader. While it's possible he could be worse, the odds are strongly against it. The previous jerk was so weak he would have surrendered to the French.

[RonF]

Democracy in action. Messy, disorganized, and inefficient. But in the end everyone feels that they've had their say and been listened to, and they have a stake in the outcome. Two years from now the extra 60 days this took will be immaterial.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

Al Malicki? didn't he have a deli in New Jersey for awhile?
(kidding)

[moose2004]

"This is interesting. It could be he is acceptable because it was necessary for the Sunnis to win a battle and ousting the PM was the victory. They appear to have successfully accomplished something meaningful, even if it acutually is not really so important."

Bert, I think you got it exactly right. The potential trouble with Al Maliki is his relationship with Al Sadr and Iran. I wonder if he is as close to the aforementioned as Al Jaafari is?

[Yardstick]

"He was elected chairman of the Joint Action Committee, a Damascas-based opposition coalition that led to the founding of the Iraqi National Congress"

The Iraqi National Congress is Ahmed Chalabi's group and, IIRC, quite secular. Al-Maliki's connection with it seems like a good thing.

[Chuck54]

ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.

Excellent point A51.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

"The Maliki madhab (Arabic ãÇáßí) is one of the four schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa and West Africa. Madhabs are not sects, but rather schools of jurisprudence. There is, technically, no rivalry or competition between members of varying madhabs, and indeed it would not be uncommon for followers of all four to be found in a randomly selected American or European mosque." dirka dirka dirka

[ARealMothersSonForever]

I do not know how to make arabic crap look like arabic crap. ãÇáßí

[ARealMothersSonForever]

I do not know how to make arabic crap look like arabic crap. ãÇáßí