Talabani working to resolve Iraqi political crisis – Source

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat – Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has begun extensive consultations with key political leaders in order to resolve the crises that have arisen on the Iraqi political scene, particularly following the recent escalation between the various political parties.  A source close to the Iraqi president denied that “Talabani has a specific initiative to resolve the crisis” but stressed that “everybody now – including the [Iraqi] leadership figures who are disputing with one another – are gambling on Talabani, with regards to his [political] weight and his role in the political process.”

The source, who is close to the Iraqi president, and who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, revealed that “Talabani did not sign the so-called quintet Erbil Agreement” adding that “he informed the four leaders who did sign the agreement, and this includes Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani, Sadrist bloc leader Moqtada al-Sadr, Iraqiya bloc leader Iyad Allawi, and Iraqi parliamentary speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, that he would not sign this agreement for reasons relating to his position as president and in order to ensure that he could remain as an arbiter between the different parties.”

As for whether President Talabani received a specific initiative or message from Erbil to deliver to Baghdad, the source said that “Talabani will continue his efforts from Baghdad within the framework of what had been agreed in the past at the National Conference, in addition to the recent developments with regards to the divisions that have arisen, and this includes the recent message [to Baghdad] threatening to withdraw confidence from the Iraqi Prime Minister [Nouri al-Maliki] within a specific time-limit.”

As for this 15-day ultimatum calling on al-Maliki to deliver on his previous promises or face a vote of no-confidence which was issued by the Kurdistan Alliance, amongst others, two weeks ago, the source stressed that “the issue of withdrawing confidence from al-Maliki cannot possibly take place within this timeframe, not because this is not practical, but because there are well-known parliamentary procedures that were not taken into account in this message of warning” adding that these parliamentary procedures “include nine separate articles.”

The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that “withdrawing confidence from al-Maliki requires a parliamentary majority following a request…by a certain number of MPs to the Iraqi Prime Minister himself, as called for by the [Iraqi Constitution]. This is something that – in itself – would require a prolonged amount of time, not to mention the fact that Iraqi parliament is in recess until June, which means that realistically nothing can happen until then.”

Following his arrival in Baghdad on Thursday, President Talabani met with “National Alliance” leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari, and a statement issued by the office of the president revealed that “both sides confirmed the necessity of standing behind the forthcoming – and previous – documents that identified the problems and developed appropriate solutions.”

The statement added that Talabani and Jaafari had also “agreed on the importance of continuing bilateral endeavors towards strengthening the democratic experience and mutual relationship between all parties, as well as exerting efforts to reach practical solutions.”

For his part, Moqtada al-Sadr stressed that the idea of dissolving parliament and holding early election to solve the ongoing political crisis in Iraq represents a “blight”, as well as an opportunity for al-Maliki to remain in power, as the Iraqi Prime Minister had said he would not seek a third term in office at the end of his present presidential term.

Prior to this statement, Sadr had stressed the neutrality of his Sadrist trend in this issue, calling for the survival of this government on the condition that all Iraqis participate in it.

Secretary-General of Sadr’s Al-Ahrar parliamentary bloc, Dhia al-Assadi, previously told Agence France-Presse that Sadr “called for supporting the current government and now overthrowing it, on the condition that all Iraqis should participate in it.”