BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmakers broke a logjam that for weeks had blocked the formation of the new government, voting overwhelmingly Sunday to elect a Sunni Muslim as speaker of the National Assembly. A Shiite Muslim and an ethnic Kurd were elected as his deputies.
The step was only the first of three required to set up the government but appeared to signal that the intense behind-the-scenes wrangling since Jan. 30 elections finally had begun to yield fruit.
The next steps -- the election of a council made up of a president and two vice presidents, and that group's selection of a prime minister, who must be approved by the assembly -- probably will be completed by the weekend, the second anniversary of the fall of Baghdad. The prime minister will select a Cabinet a week or two after that, lawmakers said.
"Basically we passed an important hurdle today, we almost have an agreement on the presidency council. Now we're engaged in a real way," said Barham Salih, a Kurd and deputy prime minister in the current interim government. "Today we have proven that we are capable of making our country march forward, without looking into our narrow interests of the different entities."
The election of Hachim Hassani as speaker was cheered by U.S. officials, who have been pressing various Iraqi factions to settle their differences and form a new government.
"We thought it was a very good day, and [Iraqis] should be very pleased," said a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Baghdad who requested anonymity.
"It is a significant step forward, and a reflection of the fact that various entities are consulting and moving forward," the spokesman said in a telephone interview.
The optimistic tone echoed the general mood among the assembly members, who might well have been relieved that there was no repeat of the acrimonious scene at a meeting last week when they were unable to decide on a speaker. At that gathering, participants began to shout at one another and the session's leaders then abruptly ordered television cameras off and the media out.
Although the cameras remained on Sunday in the tradition of more open government associated with the West, there was a striking lack of discussion or public dissent about the choices for the speakership.
Hassani, a Sunni, was elected speaker. Hussein Shahristani, a Shiite, and Aref Taifour, a member of the Kurdish Democratic Party, were named deputy speakers.
