Iraq: Finally a Government is Formed (Leland/Healy)

John Leland and Jack Healy report for The New York Times:

Iraq’s Parliament approved a new government on Tuesday, ending nine months of infighting that threatened to throw the nation into a constitutional crisis but leaving many festering problems unresolved.

The delay in forming a government led to growing unemployment, worsening services and rising cynicism among voters who risked their lives to participate in the March election. But the new government rests on jury-rigged alliances that may make it too unwieldy to address Iraq’s many problems, especially as American troops prepare to withdraw by the end of 2011.

As he did after the previous election in 2005, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki did not appoint heads for the ministries in charge of security, promising to do so later as he named himself as acting head of those posts.

Mr. Maliki told lawmakers he was “very content” — even if he knew that they were not.

“I do not need anybody to sugarcoat me,” Mr. Maliki said. “I have not satisfied anybody at all. Everybody is angry with me, and everybody is frustrated with me.”

With all major political parties and ethnic groups participating for the first time in an Iraqi government, the 325-member Parliament approved each of the 34 ministers proposed by Mr. Maliki.

But in a sign of the new government’s fragility, one small party walked out, and several lawmakers — mainly women, who received only one cabinet ministry — protested the government’s makeup.

Now, a nation with virtually no democratic track record and a history of sectarian warfare must figure a way to move forward with a government that comprises four major blocs — two Shiite, one Sunni-backed and multi-sectarian, and one Kurdish — each with a different agenda.

All parties said they wanted an inclusive government. But the resulting body may be ill suited for solving the country’s problems, including poor security, lack of an oil policy, and tensions between Arabs and Kurds over some of the country’s most oil-rich territories, said Reidar Visser, author of "A Responsible End? The United States and the Iraqi Transition, 2005-2010".

“The downside is that all the compromises have had a price — lots of ministries that aren’t really needed,” Mr. Visser said. “It’s an open question whether the government will be able to decide on key legislation, which is really needed.”

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