Political differences postpone Iraqi government

Member of the Iraqi parliament said that differences between the political forces emerged in the last minute and led to postponing the formation of the government which was expected yesterday.

Jawad al-Malki, the second ranking man in the Shiite Islamic Call party, led by the designated prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, expected that a new government will be announced today.

On the other hand, the parliamentarian ruled out the participation of members of the Iraqi list led by the quitted prime minister Eyad Allawi in this formation.

Replying to this possibility, the spokesman for the Iraqi list accused the Shiite coalition of being slow in forming the government, demanding the mobilization of all efforts to complete this step as soon as possible. Thaer al-Nqib said that the Iraqi list deserves its share in the next government, due to the number of seats it received in the elections, estimated at 40 seats.

On the other hand, al-Malki indicated that there are problems between the Sunni themselves on choosing the candidates who will join the new government. The fifth-member committee was expected to have met on Monday. It includes all Arab Sunni forces with the representatives of the Kurdish list in order to discuss the participation of the Arab Sunni in the new government. They demand to have seven ministerial bags, including a senior one.