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BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's parliament approved the country's new Cabinet Saturday, opening the way for the inauguration of a national unity government three years after the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein. Incoming Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki told the 275-member parliament that he would make restoring stability and security the top priority of his new administration. Approval of the Cabinet is the final stage in formation of a national unity government the United States hopes can calm the violence raging in the country. < snip > The 37-member Cabinet took months of negotiations to form after the Dec. 15 elections and...

The Truth - Iraqi elections mean Nothing to the democrats! FOX just had a discussion about President Bush's upcoming speech this Monday night. When asked about the impact it would have, "democratic strategist" Mary Ann Marsh said, "Bush giving a speech, is like having an election in Iraq, it doesn't mean anything". How Foul and Disgusting!!

Iraqi Vice President Dr. Adel Abdulmahdi and Acting Prime Minister Nouri Al-Malki said that the new government formation will be announced in less than three days. Parliamentarian bloc leaders met Saturday evening at Abdulmahdi's house, and although the gist of the meeting was not announced, Dr. Abdulmahdi said that the first formed Iraqi government will be announced this week. Dr. Abdulmahdi said that there are no complications in forming the government, however, politicians and leading figures should take action to control the daily violence that has broke out in different areas of the country. Information indicate that the Ministry of...

Dr. Iyad Allawi has been chosen as Secretary General of Iraqi National Security Council, this was revealed by Iraqi Parliament.

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2006 – The makeup of Iraq's new unity government reflects the diversity of its society, President Bush said here today. "After months of patient negotiations, Iraqi leaders reached an agreement on a unity government," Bush said in a speech on energy policy. "This new leadership reflects the diversity of Iraq, and it reflects the will of the Iraqi people who defied the terrorists and killers and went to the polls last December." The Iraqi parliament April 22 elected seven high-ranking officials, including President Jalal Talabani, who then named Jawad al Maliki as prime minister-designate. The new government...

The selection of a compromise prime minister in Iraq is a major victory for that country’s fledgling political class, and for the Bush administration. Purveyors of doom on Iraq now have some explaining to do: If the country is in the midst of a full-scale civil war fatal to our project there, how is it that elected representatives of the major factions were able to sit down and hammer out an agreement on the top positions in a national unity government? Iraq pessimists act like they have a special immunity from ever having to recalibrate their view of the conflict,...

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2006 – After months of deadlock, Iraq reached an "important milestone" in its journey toward democracy with an agreement on top leadership posts for a national unity government, President Bush said yesterday. The parliament elected a president, two vice presidents, a parliament speaker and two deputies yesterday. President Jalal Talabani then named Jawad al Maliki as prime minister-designate. "This agreement represents compromise and consensus among many different Iraqi groups and it came after months of patient negotiations," Bush said in a speech at the California Highway Patrol Academy in Sacramento. "The agreement reflects the will of the...

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...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's president formally designated Shiite politician Jawad al-Maliki to form a new government Saturday, starting a process aimed at healing ethnic and religious wounds and pulling the nation out of insurgency and sectarian strife. The move ends months of political deadlock among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds that threatened to drag the nation into civil war. Al-Maliki has 30 days to present his Cabinet to parliament for approval. Parliament elected President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, to a second term and gave the post of parliament speaker to Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni Arab. Al-Mashhadani's two deputies were to...

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq - After months of political deadlock, Iraq's parliament convened Saturday and filled top leadership posts, starting the process of putting together a new government aimed at pulling the country out of insurgency and sectarian strife.</p> <p>President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, was elected to a second term, and the post of parliament speaker went to Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni Arab. Al-Mashhadani's two deputies were to be Khalid al-Attiyah, a Shiite, and Aref Tayfour, a Kurd.</p>

Iraq: Jaafari ready to give up its candidature for the post of Prime Minister BAGHDAD - Ibrahim Jaafari was ready Thursday to be given up her candidature for the post of Prime Minister after having lengthily insisted to succeed itself, opening the way at an exit of the political crisis in Iraq. "Doctor Jaafari was selected like candidate by the Iraqi unified list (AUI, the block Shiite) and it asks today this block to decide its candidature", declared one of its close relations Jawad Al-Maliki with the press. Outgoing the Prime Minister thus leaves with his block the choice...

The majority of Iraqis overall view the recent parliamentary elections as valid, are optimistic that their country is going in the right direction and feel that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein has been worth the costs. Sunnis, on the other hand... The poll was conducted for WorldPublicOpinion.org by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland and was fielded by KA Research Limited... Among the Shia and Kurds optimism is even higher. Seventy-six percent of Kurds and 84% of Shia say they think the country is headed in the right direction. the ethnic divisions are very...

ALARM - Opening of the inaugural session of the new Iraqi Parliament BAGHDAD - the Iraqi Parliament elected on December 15 opened Thursday its first session in Baghdad in the medium of imposing safety measures, according to correspondents' of AFP.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's president said Monday he would convene the new parliament for the first time on March 12, beginning a 60-day countdown during which lawmakers must elect a new head of state and sign off on a prime minister and Cabinet. A string of explosions in Baghdad and north of the capital, meanwhile, killed at least 14 Iraqis and wounded 52. A U.S. soldier was reported killed in insurgency-plagued western Anbar province, pushing the American military death toll to 2,300 since the beginning of the war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The violence underscored...

al-Jaafari's nomination to continue for four more years as Iraq's prime minister is already in trouble, according to Iraqi sources. "I doubt he will be confirmed," said a member of the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shia political coalition that last week nominated al-Jaafari. The nomination by the UIA, the largest political group in the new Iraqi Council of Representatives, or parliament, was supposed to make confirmation a formality. But al-Jaafari is unpopular with the Kurds, the second largest bloc in the council. And his most powerful backer, anti-American Shia militant Muqtada al-Sadr, is anathema to another bloc, led by former...

February 13, 2006 Unreported History in Baghdad By Lieutenant Colonel John M. Kanaley The silence was deafening and the seats were empty. The western press was nowhere to be found. The location was Baghdad and the event was a February 10th, 2006 press conference announcing the final verification of December's election results. Although the final allocation of parliamentary seats did not change from last month's tentative reports, the conference was nonetheless significant for American and Iraqi history. What was equally significant was the absence of members of the western press. If the pre-release of the topics to be discussed included...

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, and former Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, right, leave the Prime Minister's office after a meeting, in central Baghdad, Iraq Friday, Feb. 11, 2005. Secular and tough-minded, Ayad Allawi seems the perfect U.S. choice to run Iraq's security forces. But many fellow Shiites have never forgiven Allawi for decisions taken when he was prime minister and seem ready to fight to keep him on the political sidelines.

Shiite lawmakers chose Ibrahim al-Jaafari today to continue as prime minister in Iraq's next government, after a contentious internal ballot that exposed the growing power of anti-American fundamentalists within the new Iraqi Parliament. The selection of Jaafari, a moderate Islamist, is the first step toward the creation of a full-term, four-year government. They will now begin negotiating in earnest with the leaders of Iraq's other political groups to create a cabinet. That task, which is expected to take months, could be complicated by the surprise selection of Mr. Jaafari, who has been widely criticized for his tenure as prime minister...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Shiite lawmakers Sunday chose Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to head Iraq's new government, Shiite officials said. Al-Jaafari won 64 votes, one more than Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, officials said. There were two abstentions. More than 100 lawmakers from the Shiite coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance, gathered to vote. The choice of the umbrella Shiite alliance is assured of becoming prime minister because Shiites won the most parliament seats in the Dec. 15 national elections. Shiite lawyers cast their votes at the heavily guarded home of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the head of Abdul-Mahdi's party. Al-Jaafari's supporters gathered in the...

Iraqi elections solve little (21 January 2006) Glen Rangwala looks at how the elections in Iraq are unlikely to bring national reconciliation, and how the US is deepening the hostility with every bomb dropped. Published in Labour Left Briefing (February 2006) All the talk in Iraq’s official political circles since the national parliamentary elections on 15th December has been about forming a government of national unity. This, we are told, would bring in the main political groups from all three major ethnic and sectarian groupings – the Kurds, the Sunni Arabs and the Shi‘a Arabs. The new parliament, elected for...