As violence increases, there is no sign of a stable government in the works, writes Salah Hemeid Efforts to resolve Iraq's government conflict remained deadlocked this week nearly four months after the parliamentary elections that produced inconclusive results. The lingering dispute over who should be the country's next prime minister has even deepened as rival factions blame and accuse each other of inviting foreign intervention into Iraq's political crisis. None of Iraq's main political groups won a clear majority in the 7 March vote. The new 325-seat legislature has met only once and even failed to elect a speaker. Iraq's biggest and most urgent challenge is to have a government that can restore stability and security as the 31 August dateline for the start of American troop withdrawal approaches fast. Rivals for the premiership, incumbent Shia Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and Sunni-backed former premier Iyad Allawi, have continued bickering over who is entitled to head the new government. Allawi insists that his Sunni-baked Iraqiya bloc has the right to form the next government as the largest party, even if it won only 91 seats, almost the same as Al-Maliki's State of Law, which won 89 seats. In an attempt of reassurance, however, the feuding factions have continued to voice readiness for a compromise, although more than three months of negotiations, horse trading and bargaining to forge a successful coalition deal has proved very hard. Their main goal is to find an acceptable combination of political, sectarian and ethnic groups and agree on the allocation of different individuals within the coalitions to different roles in the new government, army and security forces. Under an unwritten understanding following Iraq's first election in 2005 after the collapse of Saddam Hussein regime, a Shia Arab would be prime minister, a Kurd president and a Sunni Arab speaker of the parliament. The quota system, known in Arabic as muhasisa, also covers top jobs such ambassadors, senior government and army posts. Shias and Kurds have been trying to repeat the precedent amid strong Sunni opposition. To solidify his position, Al-Maliki formed an alliance with the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) and supporters of radical leader Muqtada Al-Sadr, his two main Shia rivals, in a bid to secure a parliamentary majority. But the alliance, the Iraqi Coalition has proved to be uneasy. Last week Al-Maliki's efforts received a serious blow from both the SIIC and the Sadrists who have remained defiant and refused to endorse Al-Maliki as their candidate for the premiership. Leaders of the two groups have suggested that the new Shia bloc should table more than one candidate to the parliament for ratification, a move immediately rejected by Al-Maliki's party as unconstitutional and disruptive. It is widely believed that the two Shia groups are trying to exhaust Al-Maliki and undermine his chances for the premiership. Last week they backed protests in several Shia cities against Al-Maliki's government for failure to provide residents with adequate electricity, potable water and other basic services. In a sign of worsening relations SIIC leader Ammar Al-Hakim visited Damascus last week for discussions with Syrian President Bashar Assad who has reportedly refused to endorse Al-Maliki and urged Iraqi leaders to get rid of him in favor of Allawi. That visit prompted Al-Maliki, who had fallen from Syria's favor after he accused Damascus of harbouring Saddam's followers, to call on regional powers to stop meddling in Iraqi coalition talks, blaming them for the absence of a new government. To outmanoeuvre his Shia allies, Al-Maliki's bloc turned to the Sunni-backed Iraqiya, proposing a new face to face meeting with Allawi in what they described as a fresh attempt to resolve the row that has stalled coalition talks for months. The meeting Tuesday came two weeks after their first attempt to form a new cabinet produced no concrete results. Allawi described it as only "cordial" indicating that the government issue was not at the table. Allawi's spokespersons insisted that the dispute over the premiership must be resolved before addressing the sharing of posts in a new government. "Allawi and Al-Maliki did not discuss a carve-up of political posts; the discussions focused on the way to get out of the current deadlock," Allawi's spokeswoman Maysoon Al-Damalouji told Al-Jazeera after the encounter. Sunni Vice President Tariq Al-Hashimi, a close ally to Allawi, told the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper on Monday that Iraqiya will not accept a compromise short of forming the next government. With the Americans pulling out serious numbers of troops by the end of August, the political stagnation may create a dangerous vacuum which insurgents could exploit. This week violence persisted as the politicians bickered over the formation of the new government. Thirteen people, including a brigadier general in the Iraqi army were killed and several others wounded in a string of attacks on Tuesday. On Monday 10 people died in shooting and bombing attacks, including four family members who were killed by gunmen in a raid on their home in Baghdad's Al-Dora district. This month roadside explosions, suicide bombings and gun attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere killed hundreds of policemen, pro-government Sahwa militiamen and civilian bystanders. Street crime and vendettas have also been rising. Criminals and insurgents are exploiting security gaps. Gunmen raided jewelry shops, killing several people before fleeing with large amounts of gold. The robberies are the latest in a string of violent attacks on lucrative targets such as banks, jewelry stores and money exchange houses that have plagued Iraq. Police speculate that insurgents seeking to replenish their funds may be behind the attacks. As the political impasse continues and violence soars, Iraq's parliament will resume its session mid- July under a month mandatory period stipulated by the constitution to start the process of forming the new government. Many Iraqis hope that some sort of widely based coalition will be formed in the next month, but if no government is in place by the time Americans start withdrawing, Iraq might be placed on a dangerous path again. Washington seems to be increasingly worried that the standoff in Iraq might jeopardise its plans to pull all its troops out of the country by the end of next year. One way to ensure that won't happen it has resorted to Iraq's Arabs neighbors to help Iraqis resolve the crisis. US press reports have suggested that United States President Barack Obama urged Saudi King Abdullah when he met him at the White House on Tuesday to support efforts to forge a new Iraqi government. Saudi Arabia has been reluctant to do that until a government to their liking, preferably led by Allawi, is installed in Baghdad. The reports indicate that Washington might be trying to convince the Saudis to push Allawi and his Sunni backers to join an Al-Maliki-led government. Washington hopes that such a major political coup will contain Iran's influence in Iraq and ensure Shia- Sunni cooperation in running the country for the next four years.
