Reuters, 09 March 2006
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Thursday he had agreed to delay a first session of the new parliament by a week beyond a constitutional deadline to March 19 after a request from the ruling Shi'ite Alliance.
Senior Alliance official Jawad al-Maliki said the bloc, which has close to a majority in the parliament elected in December, was determined to resist Sunni and Kurdish efforts to force it to drop Shi'ite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
"The Alliance has sent an envoy asking for a postponement in the session until the 19th," said Talabani's spokesman Kameran Qaradagi. "The presidency, out of caring for the Alliance participation, has accepted the request."
Shi'ite Muslims are the majority community in Iraq.
Maliki said the Alliance needed more time to discuss several important issues such as choosing the parliamentary speaker, who under the constitution must be elected in the first session.
Sunni and Kurdish parties want Jaafari to step down, accusing him of failing to improve security or prosperity in the year he has been interim premier.
Jaafari, leader of the Dawa party, won the nomination to lead the new government in an internal ballot of Alliance legislators -- by far the biggest bloc in the new parliament.
Maliki said the Alliance would not succumb to pressure to withdraw Jaafari's candidacy.
"Jaafari is our candidate and he will stay. We will not change him and will not hold any re-election to choose another," said Maliki, a senior member of the Dawa party.
Maliki said Kurds and Sunnis, seeking the presidency and post of speaker, needed the support of the Alliance for their candidates, a reminder that the parties may need to compromise to get what they want.
"We have a week more to choose the speaker of the parliament and his two deputies and also to discuss who is going to be the president," said Maliki.
Kurds have chosen Talabani, a Kurd, as the candidate for the presidency. Sunni Arabs are still discussing their candidates for speaker.
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Citation: "Iraq's first parliament meeting delayed," Reuters, 09 March 2006.
Original URL:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-03-09T204004Z_01_MAC968396_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-PARLIAMENT-DELAY.xml&archived=False
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