Thaindian News

New York, June 4 (DPA) The UN Security Council Thursday urged “all political entities” in Iraq to form a new government now that the country’s constitutional court has certified results of the March 7 parliamentary elections.
The council issued a statement read by its president, Mexican Ambassador Claude Heller, which called the elections an important step in Iraq’s political process to reaffirm its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

It called on Iraqi political parties to respect the certification and Iraqis’ choice for its “leaders to engage as quickly as possible in an inclusive political process to form a government to represent the will and sovereignty of the Iraqi people and their hope for a strong, independent, unified and democratic Iraq.”

The results ratified by the constitutional court Tuesday showed that former prime minister Iyad Allawi’s Iraqiya List won 91 seats in the 325-member Iraqi parliament, while current prime minister Nuri al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition came in second place with 89 seats.

Both Allawi and al-Maliki have claimed the right to form the new government.

Allawi insists he has the right to form a new government because his party won the highest number of seats.

However, al-Maliki claims he has the right to form the government after his recent alliance with the Iraqi National list. Together, they form the largest faction in parliament with 159 deputies.

Yet, that number is still four seats short of a working majority. Neither side can agree on who will head the government.

The Iraqi parliament would be expected to hold a session within two weeks to begin negotiations to form the new government.