Iraqi Govt. Collapses as Iraqiya, Kurdish Blocs Withdraw

Maliki Shows No Signs of Leaving, But Iraqiya Seeks New Majority Government

by Jason Ditz, December 19, 2011

After losing the 2010 parliamentary election, it took most of the year for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to cobble together a majority coalition. But having never followed through on power-sharing promises with the other major blocs, that coalition has collapsed.

First out was the Iraqiya bloc, which actually holds the largest plurality in parliament. Their withdrawal, which came hot on the heels of the detention of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, was followed by both the ruling Kurdistan Alliance and its rival, the Goran Bloc.

Maliki is so far shrugging off the move, despite it costing him his majority, and he shows no signs of leaving power, insisting that he will not agree to any negotiation and demanding his rivals “abide by the national standards.”

But that isn’t stopping the Iraqiya bloc from moving forward with its own effort to form a majority government in parliament, with MPs saying that the secular bloc has gained considerable support. Whether or not they can do so is unclear, but it seems clear that Maliki will not have his own majority.

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