Iraq Business News has received information late on Sunday that between 30 and 34 politicians have defected from Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya bloc, and will support Nouri al-Maliki's bid to form the next Iraqi government.
Although these rumours are still unconfirmed, they are from a source trusted by Iraq Business News. The details are understood to be as follows:
- Monday's planned parliamentary session will be delayed until Thursday;
- Cabinet positions are in the process of being allocated;
- Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani will retain the position of President, with Nouri al-Maliki as Prime Minister, and Ayad Allawi as Head of Parliament;
- Iraq's neighbours, with the notable exception of Saudi Arabia, are generally in agreement.
We are currently checking with other sources and will bring you more details as we have them.
I think the world was expecting this from Allawi but I also think it is a smoke screen just to delay
The Arabic news was filled with news of this on Sunday 7th November - so it doesn't mean anything to say you had trusted sources (any Arabic speaker could have told you the same thing). And it really means nothing to repeat rumours in Iraqi politics - most of what is said is rumours.
What we would be useful is for Iraq Business News to bring to light things which are true - otherwise just don't say anything if you don't have anything but rumours.
Oh and by the way, today's meeting in Erbil showed your rumours from your trusted source to be just that... rumours.
Time to ditch your 'trusted source'.
We can only hope that they have this finally completed so we can all get off this rollercoaster ride.
get your wheelbarrel lube up
Get your wheel barrel ready
@HMA. Good comment, although you didn't even need to be an Arabic speaker - it was in the English language Arabic press as well. And the rumours of a breakaway from Iraqiya have been circulating for weeks.
[...] Iraq’s politicians continue to haggle over the formation of the next government, the World Bank has issued its latest Doing Business 2011 [...]
I can assure you all one thing. This ride will continue well into 2011. So get ready.....