Iraqi lawmakers have agreed to meet on forming a new government as Kurdish and Shiite officials said an agreement had been reached that would allow Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki to keep his job.
If confirmed, the deal would break a nearly eight-month impasse that has paralysed the government and raised fears insurgents were taking advantage of the political deadlock to stoke violence.
The officials on Wednesday said a Sunni-backed coalition that had been opposing the Prime Minister finally decided to join his government.
“Finally, fortunately, it’s done. It’s finished. All the groups are in it,” said Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman, who took part in the nearly seven hours of negotiations.
Ali Al Dabbagh, government spokesman and member of Al Maliki’s State of Law coalition, said the Sunni-backed coalition, Iraqiya, had decided after extensive talks to accept the parliament speaker’s job and cede Al Maliki the Prime Minister’s job.
An official with Iraqiya confirmed that the coalition had agreed to take the parliament speaker’s position but would not go as far as to say that the bloc would support Al Maliki for the Prime Minister’s job and take part in his government.
His stance left open the possibility, albeit tenuous, that Iraqiya would continue to fight after accepting the parliament speaker post. The Iraqiya official did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.
Ever since March 7 vote, Iraqi lawmakers have tussled back and forth over who would lead the new government. Iraqiya was able to capitalise on widespread Sunni frustration with the Shiite led government to get 91 seats in the election, compared to 89 for Al Maliki’s bloc.
But Iraqiya was never able to find the political partners it needed for a majority, and recently Al Maliki gained momentum as he gathered new allies, like followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada Al Sadr.