IRAQ: Iraq's Sunnis, who boycotted the elections, are not happy with the resulting government, writes Michael Jansen.
It was hardly propitious that Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim Jaafari stumbled on his way to the podium to announce his new cabinet at yesterday's session of parliament, attended by only two-thirds of its members.
Having laboured for nearly three months, the Shia and Kurd blocs victorious in the January 30th poll came up seven slots short for the 32-member cabinet. The key oil, defence, electricity, industry and human rights ministries were not filled and two of four deputy prime ministers were not named.
Ahmad Chalabi, the politician most disliked by Iraqis, not only assumed a deputy premiership but also took over oil until a minister is chosen. Since a Jordanian court tried, convicted and sentenced him in 1990 to 22 years for bank fraud, Chalabi's elevation is certain to diminish the credibility of the cabinet. The line-up reveals that ministers were chosen on the basis of ethnicity and sect to fit into a formula, rather than for expertise and efficiency. Jaafari has until May 7th to fill the seven vacant posts or admit failure.
In addition to Chalabi, there are a several familiar figures in senior positions. Deputy premier Rowsch Nuri Shaways and the foreign minister Hoshyr Zebari, both Kurds, previously held these posts.
The sensitive interior ministry which governs domestic intelligence was assigned to Bayan Jabour of the Shia Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, who served as housing minister.
The new finance minister, Ali Abdel Amir Allawi, an independent Islamist Shia, previously held the trade portfolio. An authoritative Iraqi informant told The Irish Times that the assumption of top posts by Jaafari, Chalabi and Jabour means Tehran is certain to enjoy considerable influence in Iraq's governance.
The formation of the cabinet was delayed by squabbling over the oil and interior portfolios by factions belonging to the Shia United Iraqi Alliance, which controls a slim majority of 148 seats in the 275-seat assembly.
The Kurdish bloc, with 77 seats, is split. The president, Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, supported Jaafari. However, Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdish Democratic Party, attempted to stall the process until the May 7th deadline, with the aim of forcing Jaafari to resign. Barzani, a secular tribal chief, objects to Jaafari because he is an Shia Islamist dedicated to making Islamic Sharia the law of the land.
Pressed to complete his task by Washington and by Iraqi voters who braved insurgent bullets and bombs to cast their ballots, Jaafari failed to deliver the Sunnis who, with only 17 seats, are seriously under-represented in parliament.
Shia Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the most influential personality on the Iraqi scene, suggested the Sunnis should be offered 10 ministries. In his view, it is necessary to court and co-opt the Sunnis whose alienation from the post-war regime fuels the insurgency.
Jaafari, who had promised to establish a "national unity" government rather than a Shia-Kurd bicommunal cabinet, rejected the ayatollah's advice and offered the Sunnis only a deputy premiership and five ministries, including the major defence portfolio.
Sunnis rejected the deal, displeased by what was proposed and by Jaafari's refusal to halt the campaign to purge associates of the ousted Baath party from the administration and the security forces.
Sunnis were also angered by their treatment by Shia negotiators. While each faction was invited to submit three names for every post, Sunni candidates were vetted by Shias determined to root out anyone with Baathist connections.
The leading Sunni in the government, vice president Ghazi Yawar, warned: "The Sunnis will not accept any name being imposed on them, even if it is the name of a Sunni."
The Sunni Arab bloc, representing the community's main political groups, withdrew its nominees. Furthermore, the three Sunni legislators on the Shia Alliance list resigned in protest against the marginalisation of the community.
Finally, Iraqiya, the party of outgoing secular Shia prime minister Dr Ayad Allawi - the third largest with 40 seats - was excluded because religious Shias contended he was asking for too many ministries.
Al-Zamman, Iraq's most widely read daily paper, wrote: "A number of parliamentary blocs have warned that the inherent contradictions in the choice of cabinet members suggest [ the government] may not cope with its seven-month mission, which includes drafting a constitution and preparing for a new round of elections."
If democracy is to be established in Iraq, the government must also provide security, electricity, water and jobs for increasingly desperate citizens.