Global General
Iraqi PM starts laying groundwork for new govt
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-03-13 03:22
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So far, al-Maliki is winning overall in the country with about 179,000 votes, compared with roughly 160,000 for the INA and 124,000 for Iraqiya. Those results reflected the fact that a greater number of ballots had been counted in Shiite strongholds such as Najaf and Babil than had been counted in areas were Allawi was ahead.
Abbas al-Bayati, a member of al-Maliki's coalition, said Friday that the alliance already had created a committee to open talks with other blocs and expected that the group would need about two or three other coalitions to form a government.
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Among the meetings being scheduled with rivals is one with the INA, according to an al-Maliki adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks.
"Al-Maliki basically has two big choices - does he reach out to INA, which I think is easier, and it looks as though they are weaker. Or does he go to Allawi?" said Toby Dodge from the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
But finding allies with whom to form a coalition may be difficult for the Iraqi prime minister, who has created enemies right and left during his almost four years in office. Many Shiites oppose him, saying that he split the Shiite vote by breaking off from the Shiite alliance that dominated the December 2005 election to form the State of Law coalition.
He's alienated the Kurds - a crucial linchpin to forming any government in Iraq - after his government clashed with their desire to have more control over their oil resources and because he's rebuffed their efforts to gain control over the disputed city of Kirkuk.
And questions over who would get the prime minister's slot and the vicious nature of the campaign in which Allawi repeatedly attacked al-Maliki mean a coalition with Iraqiya would be difficult.
Foes of al-Maliki continued to allege fraud in the vote.
Rend al-Rahim, a candidate with Allawi's Iraqiya coalition, said Friday that the group had filed 32 complaints with election officials as of Thursday night. She said concerns included completed ballots that had been found in the garbage and the failure of some provinces to deliver ballot boxes to the counting center in Baghdad.
"We have no idea the extent of this. There is no way you can tell," she said, adding that it was not clear if the alleged fraud targeted Iraqiya exclusively or other political blocs as well.
