NYT- Plan Is Floated to Open Choice of Premier to Iraqi Parliament

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 25 — Iraqi politicians say they are considering asking the main Shiite political bloc to allow a vote by the entire Parliament on a candidate for prime minister. In the proposed plan, the Parliament would choose among three candidates, including Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the current prime minister, the politicians say.

The Shiite bloc, which has 130 of 275 seats in the Parliament, has already nominated Mr. Jaafari to be the next prime minister. Political negotiations to form a new government have been deadlocked over the past month on the issue — the main Kurdish, Sunni Arab and secular blocs in Parliament are all opposing Mr. Jaafari, for various reasons.

Under the Constitution that Iraqi voters approved last fall, the bloc with the most seats in Parliament gets first shot at nominating a prime minister. The document has no explicit passages allowing the entire Parliament to decide on a nominee.

The idea of having Parliament vote for one of three Shiite candidates is being floated among the blocs opposing Mr. Jaafari's candidacy. Some leaders of those blocs would prefer that the Shiites nominate Adel Abdul Mahdi, another prominent Shiite politician. Early last month, the Shiites held a secret ballot among themselves to choose the nominee, and Mr. Mahdi lost to Mr. Jaafari by one vote.

more:http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/international/middleeast/26iraq.html?pagewanted=print