Shiites Give Iraqi Premier an Ultimatum

NY Times ^ | April 2, 2006 | Jonathan Finer and John Ward Anderson

[jmc1969]

Leaders of the Shiite Muslim alliance that governs Iraq have given Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari until Sunday to convince his opponents he should retain his job in Iraq's next government or face being pushed aside, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

In another sign that support for Jafari is weakening within his coalition, Qasim Dawood, an independent member of the Iraqi legislature, on Saturday became the first member of the alliance to publicly call for Jafari to withdraw his name for prime minister.

I call on Jafari to take a courageous step and set a fine example by stepping down," said Dawood, according to the Reuters news agency. "We have stood behind him for 50 days, and today we have reached the conclusion that there should be a prime minister for all Iraqis, not just one group."

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Well now that's progress.

[Marine_Uncle]

Well. Guess we'll know by Monday or so. The reality is coming to a head. I suspect his cards have been on the table for a long time. If he has reached this point, why should they believe he will alter course.
Mahdi is probably a best choice regardless of what Jaafari may come out with. Mahdi is on the record for a secular government that will work for all Iraqi. Jaafari has proven he is not.
Plus a new face, with new chooses for the minitry posts will give them all a boost. Take the heat off their backs.
At any rate. Time to call it a day. Have a good Sunday.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I think this is an update:

April 01, 2006
Inside the UIA, Round II

*********************AN EXCERPT ******************************

Support for Jaafari within the UIA appears to be crumbling; The Battle for Baghdad is in full swing

The support for Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the current Prime Minister and candidate to lead the newly elected Iraqi government, is waning. Reuters reports a large majority of the United Iraqi Alliance no longer backs his candidacy, and a member of the UIA has publicly spoken out against Jaafari:

"I call on Jaafari to take a courageous step and set a fine example by stepping down," Kasim Daoud, a senior member of the independent group within the Alliance, told Reuters...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

See #4.

[Wasanother]

The MSM will try to make this negative by claiming the government is falling apart but I just hope that people understand that this is Democracy at it's best.

[BlackVeil]

Who is this Mahdi character?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

See this:

here

[Marine_Uncle]

Thanks. Had read that article amoung others. Time is running out for all these guys assuming they actually have plans of providing final chooses for government posts.

[Marine_Uncle]

"Who is this Mahdi character?"
Perhaps the following will help you at a bit.
Firstly a good snapshot in who's who among the key players.
MEMRI
As you will see in this article, Adil Abd Al-Mahdi, is the vice president of the SCIRI party. He lost the Prime Minister post by one vote to current Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, in last December's election.
Mahdi is on the record as favoring a secular ran unity centralized government. Mahdi is also on the record as stateing only a government representing all Iraqi will save Iraq from breaking up. He lost the last round due to the Sadrist (30 some votes 2005 elections), supporting Jaafari.
As you are probably aware, Muqtada al Sadr, the minor cleric who leads the Mahdi Army (milita originating in Sadr City... a NE neighborhood of Baghdad), is pushing for all coalition troops to withdraw, and wants the country to be ran by a Shia based theocracy. Though Sadr does not hold any position in the government, he has given strong support to two Shia parties that had supported the election of Jaafari in 2005, and has continued to push for Jaafari to stay in. Sadr has threatened the SCIRI's (Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq) leader, Abdul Aziz al Hakim, with harm (either personal or to his party members) if Hakim does not continue to support Jaafari for the PM post this time around.
The SCIRI has indicated it no longer in the majority supports Jaafari due to his weak performance this past year.
And they have in essence broken away from the UIA (United Iraqi Alliance) comprised of a large number of Shia and Kurdish based parties.
The SCIRI is now aligning itself with the secular parites such as the INA (Iraqi National Accord) and INL (Iraqi National List), both basically lead by Iyad Allawi.
All the last mentioned players are now or have been in support of a strong unity secular government (What the USA wants to come to be in Iraq).
Hope this somewhat brings you on board.