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Al-Iraqiya says no to grand alliance

Former Iraqi premier Iyad Allawi has restated that his electoral slate will not participate in the new Iraqi government if it is led by incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Since his al-Iraqiya electoral slate won a plurality of seats in Iraq’s May 7 general elections, Allawi has repeatedly rejected the idea of cooperating with Maliki’s State of Law alliance, which finished second in the vote.

Meanwhile, the State of Law coalition has joined the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), which finished third in the May elections, to form the National Alliance, which now stands only four seats short of the parliamentary majority they need to form a government.

Al-Iraqiya has described the calls for a grand alliance as a desperate attempt to intensify political sectarianism and has vowed to resist the formation of a government by these two blocs.

“Al-Iraqiya will not be part of the government headed by Maliki,” the bloc’s spokesman, Rahim al-Shammari, told a Press TV correspondent. “I want to clarify something: al-Iraqiya is capable of delaying or paralyzing the formation of the government or the three presidential positions,” he threatened.

The INA announced on Tuesday that the bloc would decide within five days who they would nominate for the post of prime minister after they agreed to set up a committee of 14 wise men tasked with choosing a candidate to form a government.

Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi and Nouri al-Maliki are the frontrunners for the coalition’s nomination for the post of prime minister, who would head the next government.

“We have adopted measures and standards to choose our candidate for the post of prime minister, which is going to be either Adel Abdul-Mahdi or Nouri al-Maliki,” Iraqi MP Abbas al-Bayati said. “This is considered a step forward and toward forming a new government.”

Widely viewed as enjoying the support of the West and regional Arab powers, Allawi’s al-Iraqiya won 91 seats out of the 325-member parliament in the March 7 polls, two more than Maliki’s State of Law alliance. The INA finished third with 70 seats.

Allawi’s latest remarks come as concern is rising that the political vacuum in the absence of a new government months since the March parliamentary vote could fuel militancy by al-Qaeda-linked extremists intent on destabilizing the country.

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