It is not the only remaining sticking point but the role of the present Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari appears to be a pivotal issue to be resolved by the country’s politicians if a government of national unity is to become a reality. In normal circumstances, Jaafari’s insistence that he continue to hold his job in the new government would perhaps be understandable. Tragically, however, these are not normal times.
Al-Qaeda and its henchmen are stepping up their barbaric campaign of violence as if they sense that the moment has almost come when they can tip Iraq into the even bloodier chaos of full-fledged civil war. Until a national unity government is formed, Iraqis have no hope of being able to confront, let alone defeat, the ruthless butchers in their midst. Indeed Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and his fellow terrorists know that the formation of a functioning government will represent an important defeat for them and will spell the beginning of the end for their savage campaign.
The tragedy is that the country’s elected politicians do not seem to share the same crucial understanding. Either the Sunni and Kurdish parliamentary groups must accept Jaafari as premier or the man himself must stand down. On the face of it, the easiest option would be for Jaafari to withdraw his candidacy, as he is even now being urged to do by some members of his own Shiite Alliance.
If he feels that such a retreat would be a personal humiliation because he is uniquely placed to lead a national unity coalition, he is quite wrong.
As a worsening wave of violence engulfs Iraq, politicians must now agree — perhaps within days — on who will do what in a coalition. Put starkly, if it is a choice between the fate of one man and that of an entire country, there ought to be no contest. By standing aside now, Jaafari would earn nothing but credit that he could undoubtedly count on for his political future.
Many Iraqis may have voted along communal lines but surely none of them voted for their country to be plunged into such bloody civil strife. The causes of peace and decency won a great victory with the successful staging of the elections over four months ago.
That victory is on the verge of becoming a defeat unless the squabbling politicians it produced put aside their differences and work together. For the stalemate to continue is madness. The rival parties have much to gain if they compromise and work together and absolutely everything to lose if they fail to. More importantly, they will be betraying the trust of millions of voters who braved bombs and threats to go to the polling stations and choose those who would produce an Iraqi government.
At the same time, nobody voted for the relative handful of murderous bigots who have made Iraq run with blood. Yet they seem on the verge of stealing the victory that the political parties have almost frittered away. Iraq needs a government and it needs one now.
