Iraq’s political process appeared near collapse for several hours on Monday after the Parliament said it would be at least five weeks before members would even try to elect a speaker, the first step in the process of forming a government.
But that plan appeared to be in flux after a firestorm of criticism from friendly countries and senior Shiite clerics, and late Monday evening Parliament said members would try to meet Sunday — only five days later than originally planned.
The announcement of the five-week delay was quickly followed by charges and countercharges about which political bloc was to blame for slowing down the political process. And even if Parliament does meet Sunday and chooses a speaker, it is far from clear that it will be able to move speedily to the next steps of selecting a president, two vice presidents and a prime minister.
“It’s a crisis,” said Laith Kubba, an analyst who served as a spokesman for the Iraqi government shortly after the fall of former President Saddam Hussein.
“The problem is that there is no shared vision today in Iraq,” Mr. Kubba said. “The Kurds have developed a vision, and the Sunnis are very confused about the new reality, and the Shia are very confused.”
The election was held in April but it was not certified until mid-June, and when Parliament met for the first time last week, all members could agree on was delaying for a week. According to the Iraqi Constitution, the first step is to name a speaker and once that is done, lawmakers have a maximum of two weeks to choose a president and two vice presidents and then a month more to choose the prime minister.
Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/world/middleeast/iraq-isis-maliki.htmlBut hey, it's nothing to do with Obama, right?
