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| Iraq |
| JaafariÂ’s Dawa party chooses two candidates for Iraq PM |
| 2006-04-21 |
| BAGHDAD - Embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari is out of the running for the post of premier and his party has selected two other potential candidates, an MP from his Dawa party said on Friday. “We had meetings between ourselves and the Moqtada Sadr group and have come up with two names, Jawad Al Maliki and Ali Al Adeeb, as candidates for the post of prime minister,” said Hassan Al Senaed, a Shiite MP from Jaafari’s Dawa party. The radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr’s bloc has 32 seats in parliament and has been a strong supporter of Jaafari. “Our discussions continue with other groups in the Shiite alliance and also other parliamentary blocs about these two candidates,” Senaed told AFP, adding that Jaafari was no longer a candidate. “We want to check their response and by 4:00 pm (1200 GMT) today, we will present these names to the seven leaders of the Shiite parties that mainly make up the alliance for their consideration.” If the candidates are approved, “the names will be forwarded to the 130 members of the United Iraqi Alliance for a final opinion”, he added. Senaed said that the party was pushing for a consensus decision on the new candidate rather than going for a vote. He further said that the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) will not present a candidate for the prime minister’s post. “It is our understanding with them that if Jaafari withdraws they will not present any candidate to replace him,” Senaed said. In February when Jaafari was selected by the alliance as candidate for the premier’s post, he had beaten SCIRI’s Adel Abdel Mahdi by a single vote. On Thursday, Jaafari indicated that he was ready to drop his candidacy, offering the much-needed breakthrough to Iraq’s political deadlock over forming a national unity government for which elections were held in December. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #10 Send Tater to his 72 virgins and squash the Sadarists. Do it now not later. Every day that passes he is gaining power and respect from the "masses". |
| Posted by: SPoD 2006-04-21 16:00 |
| #9 the internal's of tater's faction may be the next interesting play I suppose some of Tater's staff is fed up with Tater's ego, his grossness and his sucking up to the Persians. Jaafari's defeat is a loss of face to Tater personnally. Could be a good time for a change at the top. |
| Posted by: mhw 2006-04-21 14:25 |
| #8 flash - they picked Maliki. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-04-21 13:08 |
| #7 Adel Abdel Mahdi... This is the guy that could have formed the government months ago - he was acceptable to everyone except the Iranian puppet minions. Tater's puppetmasters need unrest and a settled and seated government denys them some of that. So they obstruct and delay. And it continues. |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2006-04-21 11:38 |
| #6 There's nothing crude about it. It's called democracy. If |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-04-21 09:55 |
| #5 theres also the possibility that the admin wants to wait till after November for an op against Sadr. I wont be so crude as to say why. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-04-21 09:52 |
| #4 I think thats the plan. If you can get someone who Sadrs just ok enough with, to not go to the mattresses, but whos still gonna gradually purge the Sadrists out of the Interior Ministry and the police, then youve won. Im not sure its gonna be easy to thread THAT needle, though. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-04-21 09:51 |
| #3 Oh, if it's going to be rough let's not do it. What's rough today could be easy tomorrow. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-04-21 09:48 |
| #2 Sadrs looking at the balance of forces. We got 130,000 US troops, and what, 15,000 other coalition forces (who are leaving steadily) we got about what, 50,000, or so, trained up Iraqi army troops, who are kinda reliable, plus as many Iraqi police and interior ministry forces, almost none of whom would be reliable if we hit the mattresses against Sadr. As it is, we're making slow progress, if any, against the 20,000 or so sunni-baathist- AlQaeeda insurgents. Dont know how many guys Sadr salvaged from the events of 2004, but lets says hes got another 20,000 or so. Less trained then the Sunni terrs, but more widespread populat support. Oh, and we're trying, at least to some extent, to keep US troops out of the line of fire to keep casualties down, to keep the homefront on board. Which is OK, as long as there are enough Iraqi forces to contain AQ, with some US backup, and more Iraqi forces on the way. BUT, if we take on Sadr at the same time, its gonna be rough. We can win, but its gonna be rough. He cant ask for the world, but he can get concessions. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-04-21 09:43 |
| #1 Tater is punching way above his weight here and getting himself a puppet who will ensure his survival. Tater needs to be mashed before or when we take on Iran. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-04-21 09:34 |