Iraq: Six Months with No Government, so US Tries Another Plan (Gordon/Shadid)

Iraq's elections for a national government were held on 7 March, but there is still no resolution of power amongst curent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, leading challenger (at least in those polls) Iyad Allawi, Moqtada al-Sadr, and Kurdish leaders. In The New York Times, Michael Gordon and Anthony Shadid report on the latest US move for a settlement:

The Obama administration is encouraging a major new power-sharing arrangement in Iraq that could retain Nuri Kamal al-Maliki as prime minister but in a coalition that would significantly curb his authority.

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The compromise plan was promoted in Baghdad last week by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., though at a time when American influence is waning and the United States continues to draw down troops. The new plan would alter the structure of Iraq’s government by bringing additional restraints to the authority of Iraq’s prime minister and establishing a new committee with authority to approve military appointments, review the budget and shape security policy.

American officials said that the approach, which aims to bring Mr. Maliki’s State of Law party, Ayad Allawi’s Iraqiya party and the Kurdish alliance into a governing coalition, represents the best chance to break the political logjam that has left the Iraqi public without a new government six months after voters went to the polls.

A senior American official said that the plan was likely to result in a new government over the next month or so, and that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton could travel to Baghdad at that time.

“We don’t really see what other option there is out there,” said another American official, who asked not to be identified because he was discussing confidential negotiations. “If we have a national unity government that is less efficient but perceived as representative and accountable to the Iraqi people, we think that’s better for the future of Iraq.”

American officials assert that they do not have a preferred candidate for prime minister. But the proposal is intended to make Mr. Maliki, or a strong-willed successor, more palatable to the rest of a broad-based governing coalition. The redefined authority would be codified by new legislation but would not require that the Constitution be amended.

Doubts remain whether the Americans can close the deal and, meanwhile, Iran has stepped up its efforts to press an alternative coalition in which Mr. Maliki might remain prime minister but in a coalition with his Shiite rivals and not Mr. Allawi.

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