(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Iraqi politicians appeared to have broken an eight-month political impasse on Wednesday when the Sunni-backed Iraqiya alliance agreed to take part in a new government headed by incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Maliki inched closer to a final deal to secure a second term.
After a meeting of Iraqi political leaders, a senior lawmaker from the cross-sectarian Iraqiya coalition headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi told Reuters the bloc would join a Maliki government.
Under the expected deal, Maliki would remain prime minister and Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, would retain the presidency.
Iraqiya would take the speaker's post, the Foreign Ministry and a role with possibly expanded authority over defense issues, the economy and foreign affairs.
The Obama administration called the development "a big step forward for Iraq.
"All along we've said the best result would be a government that reflects the results of the elections, includes all the major blocs representing Iraq's ethnic and sectarian groups, and that does not exclude or marginalize anyone. That's exactly what Iraqis seem to have agreed to," Antony Blinken, national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, said in a statement.
Parliament to meet Thursday
Iraqiya will meet on Thursday to sort out lingering disagreements and choose a nominee from the party for speaker of parliament, said the lawmaker, who asked not to be named.
Parliament was scheduled to meet on Thursday for just the second time since an inconclusive election in March.
Iraq has been without a new government since the vote, which gave Iraqiya two more seats than Maliki's bloc. Neither had enough for a majority in parliament, leaving the factions to negotiate a government.
Iraqiya joins a Kurdish alliance in supporting Maliki following months of contentious negotiations that raised tensions in Iraq.
Last month, Maliki toured capitals in the region -- from Iran and Syria to Turkey and Egypt -- to gain regional backing for his effort to stay in power. He offered Arab nations investment deals in Iraq in exchange for nudging Iraqiya toward a compromise, political sources said.
Over the past months, Iraqiya repeatedly rejected another Maliki term and demanded the right to form the government as the top vote winner in the election.
"Tomorrow in parliament, it will be the beginning of forming not just the government, but forming the Iraqi state," Maliki said on Wednesday. "God willing, we will go ahead."
Parliament met briefly in June but lawmakers said they needed more time to decide who would hold the highest offices. Last month, Iraq's high court ordered parliament to resume its sessions, putting pressure on politicians to expedite a deal.
Top jobs
Politicians from Maliki's Shi'ite grouping, the National Alliance, said they would go ahead with government formation as long as they had a political majority and even if other blocs chose to boycott the parliamentary session.
"We do not imagine a government that does not represent all Iraq's factions. ... But the government does not and will not stop, God forbid, if a list stays behind," Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a senior member of the National Alliance, told a news conference.
Haidar al-Ibadi, an influential lawmaker from Maliki's Dawa party, said his bloc had agreed with others, including the Kurdish Alliance, which has 57 seats, to attend Thursday's parliamentary session even if others chose to stay away.
Iraqi political leaders began a series of talks on Monday to try to agree on a government of national unity that would include Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds. They were expected to reach a final deal on the top posts before the parliamentary session on Thursday.
/106
