Iraq PM bullish on new govt but long road ahead

Iraq PM bullish on new govt but long road ahead

2052014

Iraq’s premier on Thursday said he had enough support to keep his post, but with election results not due for weeks and parties bitterly divided, forming a government will probably take months.

Nuri al-Maliki, who is seeking a third term in office, will have to court disaffected parties within his own Shiite community, as well as vocal Sunnis and Kurds who angrily oppose his rule, but he expressed confidence following Wednesday’s polling.  His remarks to journalists came as new figures showed April was among the bloodiest months since Iraq was embroiled in a brutal Sunni-Shiite sectarian war that left tens of thousands dead in 2006 and 2007.  “The people of Iraq know better than anyone else the enormous challenges that they face,” US President Barack Obama said in a statement, “and Wednesday’s turnout demonstrated to the world that they seek to pursue a more stable and peaceful future through the political process.”  The protracted surge in bloodshed, with more than 3,000 people killed already this year, is among the long list of complaints, along with rampant corruption, high unemployment, and what government critics say is insufficient improvement in public services.  Preliminary election results are not expected for at least two weeks. Initial election commission figures said around 60 percent of 20 million eligible people had voted. The turnout in 2010 was 62 percent.  But a security clampdown meant less violence than in the preceding two days when nearly 90 people died, with Washington and the United Nations hailing the vote as a rebuke to extremists trying to derail the political process.  Despite the myriad issues facing Iraqis, candidates largely appealed to voters on ethnic, communal or tribal grounds, and the campaign itself hinged on Maliki’s bid for a third term.  His critics have accused him of concentrating power and marginalising the Sunni minority, and say public services have not sufficiently improved during his eight-year rule.