Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Kurds stress need for a non-sectarian united government
Politics
(RFE/RL) - Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih told Al-Arabiyah television that all political parties in Iraq agree that the current political landscape in Iraq must change, the news channel reported on June 1. "We undoubtedly have observations about the performance of the government," he said, speaking about the Kurdish position. "The political, sectarian, and nationalist quota system produced a government that is not on the required level in various fields." Salih said that parliament might consider a no-confidence vote. "Iraq has a parliamentary system, and alliances change every now and then," he said.
Referring to former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's efforts to gain support for a nonsectarian-based national-unity government, Salih said: "Iyad Allawi is our friend [and] we have good relations. He discussed this issue [of a new front] with the Kurdish leaders. We stressed the need to have an alliance for the moderates in Iraq and in the Iraqi parliament.... We believe in the need to bring these forces together so that they can serve as a political base for rule in Iraq. Talks were held on this issue with Iyad Allawi and other leaders in the [United Iraqi] Alliance and the Iraqi Accordance Front and we continue to discuss this issue."
Labels: Barham Salih, Iyad Allawi, no-confidence vote, politics
