Iraqi Leaders Postpone Formation of New Government

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Iraqi Leaders Postpone Formation of New Government

By JACK HEALY and YASIR GHAZI

540

11/22/2010

The New York Times

English

Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's leaders met Sunday for only the fourth time since being elected in March and delayed for at least several more days the formation of a new government.

The postponement gave Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and his rivals in the fractious Parliament additional time to haggle over control of the country's ministries, which offer rich sources of patronage and power.

Although government operations have continued during the eight months since the election, the price of the stalemate is being felt on the streets, as evidenced by a statement on Sunday by Osama al-Najafi, the new speaker of Parliament, that said he had received a letter from the government admitting it no longer had enough money to make welfare payments to widows, the unemployed and other needy Iraqis.

He said Iraq would not be able to resume that aid until a new budget was passed.

Some lawmakers called for an investigation into the shortage of money; others said they were not surprised to learn that the well was dry.

''It's expected,'' said Ayad al-Samarrai, a former speaker of Parliament. ''When Parliament is delayed for all these months, it also stops monitoring the government and holding them accountable.''

Less than two weeks ago, Iraqi leaders announced a power-sharing deal to fold the country's major ethnic and religious factions into a fragile unity government led by Mr. Maliki, a religious Shiite who took office in 2006 and presided over an ebb in bloodshed.

The latest delay seems to be centered on an obscure parliamentary question: When will President Jalal Talabani, whom Parliament re-elected on Nov. 11, formally ask Mr. Maliki to form a government?

Mr. Talabani appeared to have all but done so more than a week ago, naming Mr. Maliki to a second term a day after the power-sharing deal was announced.

Under Iraq's sometimes malleable Constitution, Mr. Maliki has 30 days to pick his ministers once he is designated as prime minister. But Iraq's leaders said that Mr. Talabani had not yet formally done so, and would probably not do so until Thursday.

The two men did see each other on Sunday night, however, for a meeting in which Mr. Maliki congratulated Mr. Talabani on his re-election, ''wishing success to the president in his duties during the next four years.''

Also on Sunday, the United States military reported that an American soldier was killed by small-arms fire in the country's north while on an operation advising Iraqi forces. The soldier, whose name was not released, was the third American to be killed by enemy fire since the United States formally ended combat operations at the end of August.

About 49,700 American service members are deployed in Iraq. They are scheduled to withdraw completely by the end of 2011.

In the violent northern city of Mosul, gunmen on Sunday stormed the home of a television reporter, Mazin Mardan, and shot him to death, the police said. More than 140 journalists have been killed in Iraq since the war began in 2003, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

[J.C.]

Old news, but thank you for the link and the story.

[rwharnden]

A good reminder to us all that somthing must happen soon for them to take care of thier own!