Sounds like the Maliki government is on the verge of collapse.
A broad range of prominent Iraqi lawmakers say they have lost confidence in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s ability to reconcile the country’s warring factions. A leading Kurdish lawmaker said al-Maliki should resign.
Legislators from several parties told USA TODAY that al-Maliki lacks the support in parliament to push through laws, such as a plan to distribute oil revenues, that could reduce tensions between Sunnis and Shiites. Iraq’s parliament has failed to pass major legislation since a U.S.-led security plan began on Feb. 14.
“He is a weak prime minister,” said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish legislator who supported al-Maliki until recently. “This government hasn’t delivered and is not capable of doing the job. They should resign.”
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“The present government is not competent,” said Dawood, a Shiite legislator. “It’s more or less paralyzed, inactive. I doubt very much that this government can continue in power much longer.”
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Pending constitutional amendments on issues such as tax revenue sharing have stalled, said Ayad al-Samarrai, deputy chairman of the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni group. He said al-Maliki’s poor reputation among Sunnis was partly to blame. “We don’t see any progress” on sectarian reconciliation, al-Samarrai said.
Six Cabinet ministers loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American Shiite cleric whose support was crucial in naming al-Maliki as prime minister, resigned this month.
“(Al-Maliki) must do something to make this government stronger,” said Bahaa al-Araji, a lawmaker loyal to al-Sadr. “If not, this government will expire within a few weeks.”
That indeed is big news. Have other news services picked it up?
Dammit Holden, you need to concentrate on the good news from Iraq. Nine more US servicemen were not killed by a car bomb today. How did you miss that bit of good news? And, unless I am mistaken, no US helicopters were shot down, no mosques were bombed by Americans, and two school houses were painted. There is definitely good news today!!
at least he isn’t dead.