Maliki Hopes Gov’t Next Week, Offers Amnesty

Local Editor

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki hoped on Wednesday that the parliament could form a new government in its next session after the first collapsed in discord.

In his weekly televised address, Maliki said he hoped parliament could next Tuesday get past its "state of weakness".

"God willing, in the next session we will overcome it with cooperation and agreement and openness," he said. "There is no security without complete political stability."

But it is far from clear when leaders in Baghdad might reach a consensus. All the main ethnic blocs are beset by internal divisions, and none has yet decided who to put forward for its designated position.

"Each bloc has its own problems now," said Muhannad Hussam, a politician and aide to leading Sunni lawmaker Saleh al-Mutlaq.

Longtime Maliki ally Sami Askari said forming a government could take until the end of Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month. But he played down the risk of the state collapsing, saying Maliki's caretaker government would continue to function.
"The reality is that we need to be patient," Askari said. "We will have a government in the end -- but not soon."

In parallel, Maliki offered a general amnesty Wednesday in a rare conciliatory move to undercut support for militants.

Maliki's surprise move appeared to be a bid to split the alliance of extremists, loyalists of executed dictator Saddam Hussein and anti-government tribes that has captured some Iraqi regions, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

"I announce the provision of amnesty for all tribes and all people who were involved in actions against the state" but who now "return to their senses," Maliki said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team