Splits paralyse Iraqi parliament
March 29, 2005

By BBC News:

Iraq's parliament has begun a delayed second session amid continued intercommunal deadlock that has left the legislative process in limbo.
The meeting came after two hours of last-ditch talks failed to achieve the modest goal of naming a speaker.

Media coverage of the assembly was banned after politicians criticised the delays in
forming a government.

As MPs haggled in the fortified Green Zone, mortar rounds exploded nearby although no damage has been reported.

Parliament is due to reconvene on Sunday to allow MPs more time to agree on a candidate.

The BBC's Baghdad correspondent says there is growing frustration over delays in forming a government after millions if Iraqis defied the threat of insurgent violence to vote at the end of January.

Delays

Tuesday's session was meant to show that progress was being made, but has instead exposed tensions in the newly-formed 275-seat parliament.

Proceedings had been held up for three hours as Shia, Kurdish and Sunni Arab members tried to agree on a Sunni Arab candidate to be speaker, as promised before the session.

The Shia are pushing for the appointment of Fawaz Jarba, who is a member of the Shia-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, which won the elections.

Kurdish deputies are said to favour another candidate, while Sunni Arab MPs and those not represented in parliament are split over they want.

Mr Yawer, has been put forward as a compromise candidate, but he has turned down the position.

"We demand to know the details of what's happening behind the scenes!" one female MP shouted before TV feeds of Monday's session were cut.

During the heated debate interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi stormed out of the session, followed by the interim President Ghazi Yawer.

A parliament speaker is needed before MPs can begin discussions about the formation of the presidency council which will appoint the key position of prime minister.

Control

The appointment of a Sunni Arab is meant as a gesture to that minority which largely boycotted the elections, having held sway over Iraq during Saddam Hussein's regime.

Iraq's fragmented political scene has been beset by further divisions over Sunni power, the role of religion and jockeying for Cabinet posts.

The Kurds are expected to retain the Foreign Ministry and Sunni Arabs to get the defence ministry.

But control of the oil ministry has proved a major sticking point between the Shia - representing the majority of Iraqis - and the Kurds.

As the deadlock continued, insurgents have pursued their campaign of violence to destabilise the new Iraq taking shape under US-led occupation.

Three Romanian journalists went missing on Monday, and are feared kidnapped.

At least one person was killed and 17 others were wounded in a massive car bombing targeting a Kurdish official in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, police said.

A top oil official escaped assassination when his convoy was targeted by a car bomb in the southern city of Basra.

Source Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4388919.stm