Picking Iraq's next prime minister is taking up precious time, writes Mohamed El-Anwar from Baghdad Consultations are still underway to name Iraq's future prime minister. The man most likely to take the job is Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, but first he has to secure two-thirds of the 275 votes of the National Assembly (NA). So far, Al- Jaafari has the backing of 153 NA members, but needs to get the 77 Kurdish NA members on his side. The Kurds are enjoying their newly-found role as king-makers. They have been courted by Iyad Allawi and Al-Jaafari, and made the most of it. The Kurds started out by requesting the presidency, a largely ceremonial office. Then they went on to seek more concessions, including control of oil-rich Kirkuk and a powerful role in the central state. The Kurds are making sure they will never again be second-class citizens in Iraq. Communist Party leader Hamid Majid Moussa says the Kurds have little to gain from giving their votes to Allawi and are likely to back Al-Jaafari in his bid for the premiership. Meanwhile, violence continues its grim harvest in the war-ravaged country. On Monday, over 115 people were killed and 150 wounded in Al-Hella, 100 kilometres south of Baghdad. Most of the victims were men applying for police and army jobs and waiting to receive medical examinations. The bombing was in retaliation for the joint military operations mounted by the dominantly Shia security services and the US army in overwhelmingly Sunni western Iraq. The sectarian twist is likely to complicate the already tenuous political scene. Shia leaders have called on the Sunnis to take part in national dialogue, but the latter suspect this to be little more than lip service. Muthanna Harith Al-Dari, spokesman of the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) -- an influential Sunni organisation -- says Sunnis have not changed in their view: "The AMS insists on the seven demands it made in the past. It calls for a timetable for withdrawal, for resistance to be distinguished from terrorist operations, for prisoners and detainees to be released. Our position has not changed. We have not called anyone who took part in the political process. They come to us and we listen. They do not contact us because they are so inclined, but because they are under US pressure to get the Sunnis involved in the coming phase and in the writing of the permanent constitution." Asked to comment on whether the Sunnis would approve of a Kurdish president, Al-Dari said, "this is a minor issue and we don't see anything wrong with it. What matters is to keep the faith in God and the country and continue the quest to expel the occupation." Of Al-Sadr supporters, over 20 are said have won NA seats. But Abdul-Hadi Al-Deraji, spokesman for the Office of the Martyr in Baghdad, says that Al-Sadr is still opposed to the elections and its outcome and wants to see a timetable set for the American-led coalition's withdrawal. Al-Deraji says not one of those elected to the NA is authorised to speak on behalf of Al-Sadr movement. Continued consultations over the prime minister's appointment are taking precious time from the life of the future government. Once appointed, the new prime minister will have to find a formula for national reconciliation; a daunting task to say the least. He will also have to address Iraq's economic woes. Ali Al-Rawi, professor of economics at Baghdad University, is not optimistic. "The Iraqi economic structure is generally fragile, productive capacities are underused, factories operate at 10 per cent of capacity and the infrastructure is in ruins. Only 20 per cent of power stations are working. The same goes for water. Industrial and agricultural projects suffer a shortage of inputs. The private sector is in poor shape. Credit is inadequate, business prospects are grim and economic policies are chaotic. Unemployment is at 60 per cent. Runaway inflation is staggering even by the standards of post-war Germany and Japan. A 20-dinar litre of gasoline is fetching 600 dinars, sometimes 1,000 dinars, in the market. Over one-half of the population live in a state of poverty." Security remains a top priority in a country unable to export oil to full capacity due to attacks on pipelines. This is only a sample of the problems with which the NA must grapple when it meets in the next few days.
