'No talks' between Iraq's al-Maliki and front-runner Allawi

Baghdad - Incumbent Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition remains "committed" to seeing him serve another term, a spokesman said Sunday.

Al-Maliki has vowed to challenge results from the March 7 polls announced Friday, which gave former prime minister Ayad Allawi's Iraqi List a two-seat lead, despite Allawi's invitation to "all parties" to join in talks aimed at forming a government.

"We are still committed to nominating Nuri al-Maliki as the only candidate to head the next government," Hajim al-Hosni, spokesman for al-Maliki's State of Law coalition, told the German Press Agency dpa.

"We are not having any talks with the Iraqi List," he said.

Al-Maliki has said he will seek a court ruling requiring a manual recount of the votes, saying he had evidence of instances of fraud, particularly in Baghdad and Mosul.

In another move that could tilt the results in al-Maliki's favour, Iraq's Justice and Accountability Commission on Saturday said it might also disqualify an additional 50 candidates, including some from Allawi's coalition, for their alleged past connections to the banned Baath Party.

The same body ignited fierce controversy ahead of the elections by banning hundreds of candidates from standing in the polls.

Friday's results gave Allawi's list 91 seats out of 325 in the new parliament, to the State of Law's 89. The Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a coalition of mostly Shiite religious parties, won 70 seats.

The Kurdistan Alliance, a union of the two parties that have for decades defined Kurdish politics, won 43 seats, enough to cement their role as a crucial part of the new government.

"We are talking with the INA and the Kurdistan Alliance because we believe these two entities are close to our platform, vision, direction, and faith in the constitution," State of Law's al-Hosni told dpa.

There had recently been "a marked improvement" in the negotiations, he said, adding that al-Maliki's coalition hoped to form an alliance in the coming days.

The INA and the Kurdistan Alliance, both of which have also been in talks with Allawi's list, remained noncommittal.

"We are for partnership agreements and the participation of all winners in the formation of the upcoming government," the INA's Maen al-Khadhimi told dpa.

The INA and the State of Law coalition were "close," he said, but talks between the two on forming a government "had not yet reached a solid position."

The Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq, the largest party in the outgoing parliament and the largest component of the INA, left al- Maliki's coalition last year because it wanted the prime minister to be drawn from the council's ranks, a condition al-Maliki's Dawaa Party refused.

Kurdish politicians remained similarly ambiguous when discussing the current state of negotiations to form a new government.

"Talk of creating alliances between the winning coalitions is premature. There are discussions, but I think they will have a broader scope once we are done with the appeals and have fully verified the election results," leading Kurdish politician Mahmoud Othman told dpa.

Talks "should tackle all issues, based on the constitution and (a spirit of cooperation, to solve all problems," Othman said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/316175,no-talks-between-iraqs-al-maliki-and-front-runner-allawi.html.