Middle East Focus-Arabia Deserta: The Ba’ath Shall Rise Again? the Israeli Precedent…………..

Arabia Deserta

The Ba’ath Shall Rise Again? the Israeli Precedent…………..

“His Iraqiya bloc beat the rival State of Law alliance of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki by just two seats. Both the UN and US envoys to Iraq have said the 7 March poll was credible. But Mr Maliki has said he will challenge the count through the courts. Despite winning the election, Mr Allawi is a long way short of the majority he needs to form a government, says the BBC's Andrew North in Baghdad. Much of his support came from Iraq's Sunni minority, our correspondent adds, but most of the parties he would need to back him represent Iraq's Shia majority, and have close ties to Iran. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Allawi said it was "very clear" that Iran was trying to stop him from becoming prime minister. "Iran is interfering quite heavily and this is worrying," he said. He accused the Iranian government of interfering by inviting all the major parties to Tehran for talks, except his own Iraqiya bloc. "They have invited everybody - but they haven't invited us - to Tehran," he said. He said he was concerned Tehran was also influencing a commission that has been vetting candidates for ties to Saddam Hussein's Baath party, which may disqualify more of his supporters. Some are likely to see Mr Allawi's comments as an excuse for the possibility he may not be able to form a government, says our correspondent………”

Last year in Israel the Kadema, headed by Tzipi Livni, won the most seats in the Knesset, but the Likud managed to put together a coalition of (right-wing kook) parties and formed the government.
It happens.
(Iran most likely does not want Allawi to be prime minister, but then so do most Iraqis, the overwhelming majority who voted for his opponents.)
Cheers
mhg

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