Three months after a landmark election, Iraq's new parliament convened for the first time yesterday amid worsening communal violence and little sign of a deal on a government of national unity.
But the inaugural session lasted just 40 minutes and was adjourned after all 275 members of the national assembly were collectively sworn in.
Adnan Pachachi, 83, who as eldest member presided over the new assembly, said the session would adjourn until political parties could agree on who was to be elected speaker.
PHOTO: AP
"It has been decided to leave the session open pending political agreement on the designation of a speaker and his two deputies," said Pachachi, a former foreign minister.
Political parties remain deadlocked in their talks on forming a national unity government after the Dec. 15 election to choose the first full-term parliament following the US-led war that ousted former president Saddam Hussein in 2003.
"It is difficult to chose a new speaker and his deputies until a deal is reached on the whole government package," Hajem al-Hassani, the outgoing speaker, said in a televised interview.
The streets of Baghdadl were eerily quiet with vehicle traffic barred to keep car bombers at bay, while police and army units multiplied their checkpoints across the city. The 275 members of parliament met behind blast walls and razor wire in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.
The government told civil servants to take a holiday and many other residents bunkered down at home, fearing attacks by insurgents bent on proving the caretaker government cannot guarantee security. Most shops remained closed.
Iraq's new parliament will again be dominated by the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance which can count on the support of 130 members of parliament.
The Kurdish coalition has 53 seats, while various Sunni parties control at least 55 seats. Secular-based and minority parties hold the remaining seats.
President Jalal Talabani suggested on Wednesday that the long awaited Cabinet should be ready by the end of this month, a conclusion deemed overly optimistic by rival politicians.
Outgoing Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari told state TV that forming the Cabinet would take a little longer: "I think a month is enough to form a government, if we keep to the Constitution."
Other politicians, however, note that deep gulfs remain on many key issues, including the Shiite choice of Jaafari to remain prime minister.
"I don't expect to see a new government before May," said one participant in the leaders' conference, Hassan Shumari, from the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance.
Deadly violence erupted in Halabja when Iraqi security forces fired into a crowd of Kurds rioting on the anniversary of Saddam's gas attack on the Kurdish town.
A 14-year-old boy was killed and six demonstrators in the clashes as some 7,000 protesters, including relatives of the 5,000 victims of the March 17, 1988 aerial attack, set up road blocks, attacked government offices and set fire to a memorial built to honor the dead.
Meanwhile, police overnight found 25 corpses that had been dumped in different parts of Baghdad, an official said.
also see story:
Milosevic and Saddam in the dock: A farce
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
RSS