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Iraq's Allawi: Power-Sharing Deal 'Dead'

   VOA News 13 November 2010
   Former  Iraqi  prime  minister  Ayad Allawi speaks during an interview
   with The Associated Press in Baghdad, 06 Apr 2010

Photo: AP

   Former Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi (file photo)

   Former  Iraqi  prime  minister Ayad Allawi, head of the country's main
   Sunni-backed   political   group,   has   declared   the   concept  of
   power-sharing  "dead," just days after a deal to form a new government
   was reached.
   In  an  interview with CNN Friday, Mr. Allawi said some members of his
   Iraqiya  coalition  might  join  the new government, but he said most,
   including himself, will not be part of it.
   Asked  how  the end of a power-sharing agreement might affect a future
   government, he said there will probably be tensions and violence.
   Iraqiya  was  one  of  the groups that agreed to join a coalition this
   week  in  a  deal  that  gave Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki a
   second 4-year term.
   But  the deal got off to a rough start Thursday, when about two-thirds
   of  Iraqiya's  91  lawmakers  walked  out  of parliament, saying their
   demands had not been met.
   The  walkout  underlined  the  fragility  of the new agreement and the
   Sunni  minority's  distrust  of Mr. Maliki, who under Iraqi law, has a
   month to form his Cabinet.
   Despite  the  setback, international leaders, including U.S. President
   Barack  Obama,  hailed  the  power-sharing  deal as a step forward for
   Iraq.
   The  agreement  also gave the Iraqiya coalition the parliament speaker
   position  and  allowed  Kurdish  leader  Jalal  Talabani  to  keep the
   presidency.
   If  the  deal  holds, it could end a deadlock that has paralyzed Iraqi
   state  institutions since March's inconclusive elections.  Insurgents
   have  taken  advantage  of  the  8-month  political  vacuum  to  stoke
   violence.
   Iraqiya  won the most seats in the March elections but was not able to
   gain enough support from other parties to create a majority coalition.

   Iraqiya's inability to find political partners allowed Mr. Maliki, who
   partnered  with  anti-American  Shi'ite  cleric  Muqtada al-Sadr in an
   Iranian-backed coalition, to gain momentum and support.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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