Al-Iraqiya’s boycott of INA big problem, says VP

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The refusal of the al-Iraqiya List to deal with the Iraqi National Alliance (INA) is something regrettable as it is considered a main partner in the political process, describing the boycott as a big problem, Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdulmahdi said on Wednesday. “The INA considers al-Iraqiya as a main partner in the political process as we insist on the national partnership principle,” Abdulmahdi said at a press conference in Baghdad, attended by IraqiNews.com news agency. “The INA will deal seriously with the situation as the absence of al-Iraqiya will be a big problem in forming a government of national unity,” he explained. The bloc, led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, decided in its last meeting to boycott the political process if the National Alliance named Nouri al-Maliki to head the government. Al-Iraqiya List senior official Usama al-Nujaifi had denied on Tuesday reports saying that al-Iraqiya ceded its right to form the government. The recent statements of al-Iraqiya senior official Tareq al-Hashemi expressed his personal views, al-Nujaifi said. Al-Hashemi’s statements were misinterpreted, he added stressing that al-Hashemi said al-Iraqiya is willing to cooperate but not to cede its right, he argued. Differences among political blocs reached their zenith between the main two blocs, al-Iraqiya and the State of Law, with the first obtaining 91 out of the new parliament’s 325 seats while the second obtained 89. The State of Law formed a coalition with the Iraqi National Alliance, or INA, to garner the largest number of seats in the new parliament. This claim was rejected by al-Iraqiya bloc, which argued that it had been the winner of the largest number of seats in the parliament and that it has the right to form the new government. SH (S) 1