Shi’ites debate premier choice as Kurds wait in wings

IRAQ’S main Shi’ite alliance, fresh from winning landmark elections, gathered yesterday to choose a candidate for prime minister and the allies it needs after failing to win an absolute majority.

The alliance, which won 48% of votes cast on January 30 far short of the 60% it expected will need other parties' support if it is to dominate the National Assembly, where a two- thirds majority is needed to form a government.

Analysts expect the Kurds, who won 25% of the vote, to be kingmakers in negotiations over who will take the top government positions.

Sunni Arabs, most of whom either boycotted the vote or didn't turn out, look set to get barely five seats, leaving Iraq's once-dominant minority in the cold.

There are also fears of a rise in ethnic tensions around the divided city of Kirkuk, where Kurds won around 60% of the local vote after many Arabs and Turkmen, who also lay claim to the oil-rich city, boycotted the election.

In Baghdad, doubts arose over whether the United Iraqi Alliance, an Islamist coalition backed by Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, would hold together despite its electoral win an issue on the agenda yesterday.

"It's a critical day for us. After today everything will be resolved," said a member of one of the alliance's main parties.

The grouping, headed by two religious Shi'ite parties the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and Dawa also brings together a medley of independents, secular Shi'ites, some Sunni Arabs and Turkmen.

While the alliance won slightly less than half the vote, it could end up with around 140 seats in the assembly two more than a majority.

The Kurds second place showing means they will get around 70 seats in the assembly. A list headed by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi came third and will have about 40 seats.

Iraq's two main Kurdish parties have agreed that Jalal Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, will be their candidate for a senior government position.

Iraq's new government will have a president and two vice-presidents.

Once they are named, they will then choose a prime minister and agree on a cabinet of ministers who must be approved by a majority.

There were a series of attacks north of Baghdad yesterday, including a roadside bomb blast on a police convoy which killed three policemen and a civilian.