Allawi fate in limbo as Maliki resorts to desperate measures

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Malikis party lost the Iraqi election,but a day after the results were announced it became clear that he would fight to hold on to his post even before the outcome was declared....

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Malikis party lost the Iraqi election,but a day after the results were announced it became clear that he would fight to hold on to his post even before the outcome was declared.

On Thursday,he persuaded the Supreme Court to issue a ruling that potentially allows him to choose the new government instead of awarding that right to former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

On another front,officials in charge of purging the government of former members of Saddam Husseins Baath Party said on Saturday that they still expected to disqualify 50 political candidates,many of them members of Allawis Iraqiya Party. That could strip Allawi of his narrow plurality,91 parliamentary seats compared with 89 for Malikis State of Law party.

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If that does not work,Maliki still is clamoring for a recount,and he said he planned to file a legal appeal even though the UN,the elections commission and international observers have declared the election valid. The same Supreme Federal Court,which is nominally independent but has proved friendly to Maliki in the past,will decide the recount issue.

Theyre still going to take advantage of all the means at their disposal to eke out a victory, said Gary A Grappo,the top political officer in the US Embassy in Baghdad,referring to Maliki and his supporters.

Minutes after the United Nations and the Independent High Electoral Commission announced the results on Friday,Maliki went on television to counterattack.

No way we will accept the results, he said. Strong language like that,as well as his statements a week earlier that,as commander-in-chief,he had a responsibility to make sure that election fraud did not occur,led many to worry that the PM might forcibly hold onto power,or even stage a coup.

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Allawi put together a coalition that included many Sunni parties,and his list won heavily in their parts of the country.

Neither candidate,however,won anywhere near the 163 spots needed for a majority in Parliament. In the days leading to the announcement of results of the March 7 poll,it was widely assumed that the candidate who won the most seats would be given the advantage of the first attempt at forming a government,and be given 30 days to do so.

However,on Thursday,the day before the results were announced,the PMs office asked the Supreme Federal Court for a definition of the term,the parliamentary bloc with the most members in Article 76 of the Iraqi Constitution. The court issued its 211-word decision speedily in Malikis favour. It ruled that the leader of the bloc with the most followers once Parliament convenes would be the one who forms a government. That gives both candidates until June to manoeuvre to win over candidates from other alliances; winning candidates are free to switch parties at will.

Allawi at a news conference on Saturday said: The Iraqiya list is open to all slates,starting with the State of Law list and the Iraqi National Alliance and the Kurdistan Alliance, he said.