Iraq's Anbar Province Struggles To Form Government
Three months following elections in Iraq’s protest-riddled Anbar province, its various factions have still not managed to create alliances and form a local government.
Some time has passed since elections were held in Iraq’s Anbar province on June 20, and political forces that won the elections have been unable to form a local government.
Sunni politicians in this large province located west of Baghdad — where the majority of the population opposes Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s policies — said, “thus far, the small blocs that have one or two seats in the new council, which includes nearly 30 seats, have refused to join any large alliance to form a government.”
The Mutahidoun bloc, led by parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, won eight seats, whereas the Aberoun bloc, led by Qasem al-Fahdawi, a former governor who is close to the central government in Baghdad, got five seats.
The Iraqiya al-Arabiya bloc, led by Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, obtained four seats, while the Unified Iraqiya Coalition — led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi — and the National Coalition of Anbar each got three seats. The National Cooperation Coalition and the Popular Will Project have two seats each.
