Iraqiya Claims Progress in Talks With Maliki Bloc

Iraqiya MP Says State of Law Accepting 'the Inevitable'

by Jason Ditz, July 11, 2010

The Iraqiya bloc of Ayad Allawi is claiming to have made significant progress in its ongoing talks with the State of Law bloc of current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, though the talks continue and they have yet to come to any agreement on a prime minister.

Ayad Allawi

Yet according to Iraqiya MP Monadhil Tawfeeq, the State of Law bloc is “showing flexibility” on the matter of a prime minister and “acquiescing to the inevitable,” adding that the prime minister would have to be from Iraqiya, and presumably would have to be Allawi.

Iraqiya won a narrow plurality in the March 7 vote, netting 91 seats to State of Law’s 89. The Iraqi National Alliance (INA) won 70 seats and came in third. All three blocs have demanded that their own candidate of choice, Allawi for Iraqiya, Maliki for State of Law, and former Prime Minister Jaafari for the INA, be the next prime minister, and each has insisted they will accept no other choice.

Officials for the State of Law have disputed the claims of progress, insisting that they have yet to even discuss which officials would take any of the major government positions should the two sides come together in a coalition. More talks are expected in the coming weeks, and will likely pick up with parliament’s recess expected to end this week.

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