Jaafari poised to become Iraq's prime minister

Financial Times(subscription) ^

[Alex Marko]

Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq's interim vice-president, was virtually assured on Tuesday of becoming prime minister in the new government after his candidacy was accepted by the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shia-led bloc that swept the country's elections.

The Alliance's decision followed a week of negotiations among parties within the bloc and after the withdrawal of two leading challengers, Ahmed Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress and Adel Abdul Mahdi of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

Mr Jaafari, who hails from the Da'awa party, a Shia Islamist group with strong ties to Iran, is seen as one of the most acceptable Alliance politicians to both Kurds and Sunni Arabs. The Shia bloc has pledged not to alienate either group following its election victory. Opinion polls consistently rate Mr Jaafari as one of Iraq's most popular politicians.

Mr Jaafari's ideas are broadly in line with those of the Alliance, which wants to give Islam a prominent place in the new constitution, even at the risk of alienating secularists. The Alliance also hopes to rid the Iraqi government and security services of members of the former ruling Ba'ath party, a policy that could estrange them from Sunni Arabs.

Alliance figures have told US officials that they fear the security services have been heavily infiltrated by loyalists to the former regime of Saddam Hussein, under whom the Shia suffered terrible repression.

In a press conference on Tuesday Mr Jaafari indicated he was likely to take a hard line on the issue, saying current efforts for "de-Ba'athification" in Iraq would continue.

A US official said he hoped that the effort to rid government of Ba'athists would not turn into a witch hunt that might hamper national reconciliation. "[Shia politicians] speak about the need to reach out to the Sunni and then they'll talk about the need to clean up the Ba'athists. And when you ask about the tension in those two statements, you don't get a look of instant comprehension," he said.

Outreach will be vital, however, both to end a bloody insurgency dominated by Sunni groups and to prevent the Kurds from walking away from the political process and towards calls for independence for their national homeland in the north.

To secure the premiership for Mr Jaafari, the Alliance will have to forge a two-thirds majority vote in the parliament to appoint a president. In turn, the president will appoint the prime minister and a government. With a slim majority of 140 out of 275 seats, the Alliance must therefore win the support of at least one other large bloc.

Humam Hamoudi, an Alliance spokesman, said it was likely that the presidency would go to the Kurdish Alliance, which won 75 seats in the parliament, in exchange for their support on confirming their nominee for the premiership. The speaker of parliament is likely to be a Sunni Arab.

[Martin Tell]

To secure the premiership for Mr Jaafari,...

I know this is good news, but I can't help thinking of Jafar, the evil vizar in Disney's Aladdin.

[goldstategop]

It looks like Iraq will have its first Kurdish President, its first Shiite Prime Minister and Sunni Parliament Speaker. Now the hard part of writing a permanent democratic Constitution begins.

(Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News.")