Iraqi Shiite cleric urges political blocs to form new government

Baghdad - An influential Iraqi Shiite religious leader urged political blocs on Friday to form a new government, amid signs of a mounting crisis one month after the announcement of election results.

In a sermon to thousands of worshipers gathered at the Imam Hussein mosque in Karbala, cleric Ahmed al-Safi, a confidant of revered Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, said "he blamed all political parties without making any exception."

Results of the March 7 parliamentary elections showed former prime minister's Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya List winning 91 seats in the 325-member parliament, followed by current Premier Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law coalition with 89 seats.

"Until when would the situation remain like this and who should bear the hard time the Iraqis are having?" al-Safi asked.

"The Iraqi people did what they had to do... but we have to be realistic and speed up the formation of the government," added the cleric.

Allawi's narrow lead is now threatened after a Baghdad court order to disqualify one winning candidate from his coalition because of formerly having had links to the Baath Party.

The court, whose rulings may be appealed, has yet to rule on whether nine other winning candidates should be disqualified retroactively.

However, now all eyes are on the Independent High Electoral Commission which will begin the process of recounting votes in the capital on Monday.

A court ruled in favor of a manual recount of votes in Baghdad, after al-Maliki's coalition appealed, saying it had proof of fraud.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/321416,iraqi-shiite-cleric-urges-political-blocs-to-form-new-government.html.