Iraqi assembly in chaos as lawmakers fail to agree on speaker

SHOUTING from their seats, lawmakers failed to agree on a parliament speaker during their second-ever National Assembly meeting yesterday, as officials continued to haggle over the role of Sunni Arabs in the new government, a role officials hope will quell the Sunni-led insurgency.

Shi’ite, Kurdish and Sunni representatives had been trying to come up with a Sunni Arab candidate that legislators promised would be announced in yesterday’s session.

Once it began, lawmakers immediately began arguing over whether to delay their decision, and the leader of the session decided to kick reporters and cameras out and take negotiations behind closed doors.

Earlier, after a meeting with the Shi’ite-led United Iraqi Alliance and Kurdish leaders as well as interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, interim President Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab, insisted on turning down the speaker post.

Negotiators had been lobbying him to take the job. “We have apologised for practical reasons,” said Mr al-Yawer, who is seeking one of the country’s two vice presidential spots. “With the small number of Sunni Arabs in the assembly, this post won’t put us in a position to strike a balance.”

Alliance negotiator Ali al-Dabagh played down the setback, saying the choice remains in the hands of the assembly.

He added the Alliance was considering nominating a Sunni Arab from its coalition, Sheik Fawaz al-Jarba, a proposal that caused some Sunnis to accuse the Alliance of trying to impose its own members.

Under Saddam Hussein, the minority Sunnis dominated all levels of government.

Critics of the process say the Sunni Arab candidates being discussed for government posts have no influence on the insurgency and their participation is unlikely to affect it.

Several explosions were heard in Baghdad yesterday, where officials had warned residents to prepare for stepped up insurgent attacks. It was unclear if they caused any damage. During the first National Assembly meeting, on March 16, militants lobbed mortar rounds at the heavily fortified Green Zone in the city’s centre, where lawmakers held their meeting.

Violence also continued in the rest of the country. A car bombing in the northern city of Kirkuk killed one person and injured more than a dozen, police said.

Three Romanian journalists were kidnapped in Iraq, the television station employing two of the journalists said yesterday. Romania has about 800 troops in Iraq.