BAGHDAD, 7 March 2005 — More than a month after general elections, Iraq’s new Parliament will hold its first session in 10 days. “We agreed that the first session of Parliament will take place March 16, the anniversary of the chemical bombing of the Kurdish town of Halabja by the former regime of Saddam Hussein in 1988,” outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said.
Members of the United Iraqi Alliance, the big winner in the Jan. 30 elections, met in central Baghdad and agreed Saturday to try to form a government and convene the 275-member National Assembly by March 16 after Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani demanded that they stop bickering.
The National Assembly’s first order of business will be to elect a speaker and vote on a presidential council, including a president and two deputies, who in turn will choose a prime minister to form the next government.
Saleh, a leading figure in the Kurdish alliance which holds 75 of the 275 seats in Parliament, said talks with the first-place Shiite list will continue until then.
An official with the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) confirmed the date of the first session, adding that the two sides had agreed to share the top posts of the presidency, vice presidency and premiership.
“We decided to set that date because all the signs indicate that an agreement will be ready before the first session,” said Jawad Maliky, second in command in the Dawa party of prime minister candidate Ibrahim Al-Jaafari. Kurds are expected to get the presidency with senior leader Jalal Talabani being a favorite.
Talks over the next days will focus on sharing the Cabinet posts and bringing in the Sunnis, who largely boycotted the elections but are now seeking a role in the government, according to Maliky.
“We have agreed on the principals,” added Maliky, who also served as deputy speaker in the previous interim assembly.
— Additional input from agencies
