Iraq’s Maliki to engage in more negotiations with Kurds on next govt
Nouri al-Maliki. File photo.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Vice President Nuri al-Maliki’s coalition intends to continue recent talks with kurdish political representatives regarding the formation of the next Iraqi government, his office said.
Hisham al-Rikabi, director of Maliki’s office, said in statements on Wednesday that the State of the Law coalition will launch a new phase of talks within the next couple of days with Kurdish political forces after a meeting between Maliki and a former Kurdish president, Masud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, in Baghdad yesterday.
According to Rikabi, “the meeting between the head of the State of the Law Coalition, Nuri al-Maliki, and the KDP delegation in Baghdad has resulted into resolving lots of past issues between both sides, as well as reaching understandings in relation to the formation of the largest parliamentary bloc”.
Iraqi parliament elections, the first after victory over Islamic State militants, were held on 12th of this month, with results, announced on 19th. Maliki’s list came forth according to the final outcome.
No list has ensured an outright majority, and according to the constitution, the new government should be announced before 90 days after the announcement of results.
Kurds, whose relations with the central government in Baghdad deteriorated since they voted for independence in September, are anxious to secure a place in the next government. Kurdish representatives have met with various political groups, including Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose list came first in the polls.
Kurds have been at loggerheads with Maliki, a former prime minister who is widely blamed for stoking sectarianism and for Islamic State’s takeover of Iraqi territories by the end of his term in 2014.