Iraq should set up a caretaker government made up of respected figures, with a prime minister, a president and two vice presidents, to govern the country from the U.S. handover of power on June 30 until elections set for Jan. 31, U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said Wednesday. Brahimi said he was "confident" that a government can be set up but said security in Iraq must "considerably improve" before elections happen, he said. Brahimi's proposals represented a stripped-down alternative to previous, more complicated systems for a new government, a subject that has caused sharp divisions among members of the Iraqi Governing Council and U.S. administrators. The differences were so difficult to overcome that the United States and Iraqi leaders called in the United Nations to find a solution.
| Bad move -- should have locked the Iraqis in a cigar-smoke filled room with no food or water, and tell them to come out only with an agreement. |
Past ideas had included expanding the 25-member Governing Council to make a body that could then create an interim government. But under the ideas outlined by Brahimi, the council would be disbanded once the June 30 target date is passed.
| I actually think that's a good idea... |
Brahimi said the caretaker government would be "led by a prime minister and comprising Iraqi men and women known for their honesty, integrity and competence. There will also be a president to act as head of state and two vice-presidents." A "consultative assembly" should also be created, but not an interim legislature, said Brahimi. "I am absolutely confident that most Iraqis want a simple solution for this interim period," he said. "You don't need a legislative body for this short period."
| Sure would make it easier for the UN, France and Russia to deal with such an authority, wouldn't it? |
He called for a conference of "national dialogue" to be convened after the June 30 handover to create a "consultative assembly." Brahimi said legislative elections set for Jan. 31 would be "the most important milestone." There is "no substitute for the legitimacy that elections provide for," he told a news conference. |