Chaotic Iraq Assembly Closes Doors to the Media
BAGHDAD — Iraq's new National Assembly was only 10 minutes into its second session Tuesday when members became mired in a shouting match that caused leaders to close the gathering to the media. The meeting broke up after an hour with no progress toward forming a government.
After offering Iraqis a rare glimpse of open debate in a legislative body they had elected, lawmakers ordered the media to turn off their cameras. Local television stations began to play music instead of broadcasting the breaking news -- much as they had done on government orders during Saddam Hussein's time, onlookers noted.
The disarray is the result of a hardball struggle between individual politicians as well as political blocs over how to share power. Though many policy differences between the factions have been resolved, undecided are the vice presidents' and deputy prime ministers' seats and the distribution of the ministries.
"The problem is that so far there are no mutual understandings among the principal political blocs," said Abdul Karim Mohammedawi, a Shiite Muslim from the assembly's largest bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance, who is known for his independent views.
Although several prominent members said they expected the transitional assembly to convene Sunday and name a speaker and two vice speakers after Sunni Muslims have had a chance to decide on a candidate for the speakership, the formation of a government is still probably weeks away.
The political turmoil has worsened in the weeks since Iraq's historic elections Jan. 30, as the heady excitement over the balloting has faded and the negotiations have become increasingly hard-fought.
Complicating matters is the fact that the two largest blocs in the assembly -- the Shiite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance and the ethnic Kurds -- are trying to draw Sunni Arabs into the government, in part by offering them the speaker's post.
Iraq's Sunni voters largely boycotted the elections, and as a consequence it is difficult to determine who among the few Sunni assembly members has support in their broader community.
"Why would they call for a meeting of the National Assembly if they had not reached any compromises or joint agreements about mechanisms or about the persons who are going to be at the top of the National Assembly?" asked Mohammedawi, echoing the frustration voiced by many Iraqis on the streets.
