Iraq’s Shiite parties line up to oppose new PM-designate
Baghdad, March 18: Iraq’s typically divided Shiite political parties lined up on Wednesday to signal their opposition to premier-designate Adnan al-Zurfi, less than 24 hours after his nomination.
The 54-year-old lawmaker and former Najaf governor was nominated Tuesday to be Iraq’s new prime minister, the second attempt to replace outgoing premier Adel Abdel Mahdi this year.
Zurfi has 30 days to form a cabinet, which must earn a vote of confidence from iraq's 329-member parliament. But several Shiite blocs have already signalled their displeasure with the way Zurfi was selected.
On Wednesday, the State of Law coalition, led by exprime minister Nuri alMaliki, and lawmakers linked to the relatively moderate cleric Ammar al-Hakim said they opposed the president’s unilateral selection of the prime minister.
President Barham Saleh, they insisted, should have referred to parliament’s largest bloc to select a nominee. The powerful Fatah bloc, the political arm of the Hashed alShaabi military network, had also slammed Zurfi’s nomination as unconstitutional. Along with some smaller parties, those opposed could add up to more than 100 lawmakers voting against a Zurfi-led cabinet.
One key Shiite leader, cleric Moqtada Sadr, said Wednesday he would not announce a position on Zurfi’s nomination. Kurdish and Sunni blocs, meanwhile, will likely be supportive of the candidate. Zurfi was a longtime member of the Dawa party, the historic opposition force to dictator Saddam Hussein, who was ousted in a 2003 US-led invasion.
A dual US-Iraqi national,
Zurfi spent roughly a decade in the United States and returned after the invasion to serve as governor of his native city of Najaf under the USdominated occupying force. Respected as a statesman focused on improving public services and security, many hope he could shelter Iraq from spiralling tensions between Tehran and Washington.
In his first public statement late Tuesday, Zurfi pledged to hold elections within a year of forming his cabinet and vowed to respond to the demands of protesters hitting the streets for months over government graft and inefficiency. He also promised to improve security in the country, which has seen more than two dozen rocket attacks targeting foreign installations since late October. —
Washington, March 18: Former vice president Joe Biden has claimed victory over rival Bernie Sanders by sweeping three key primaries in Florida, Illinois and Arizona, inching closer in the race to become the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee to face US President Trump in November’s election. Biden, 77, won the three primaries with an impressive margin, trouncing Vermont Senator Sanders, 78, to become the Democratic party’s presidential nominee.
Whereas Ohio, which was supposed to hold a primary on Tuesday, postponed it due to the coronavirus pandemic. As of Tuesday, Biden had 1,121 pledged delegate in his kitty with Sanders trailing behind with 839 delegates.
Either of the two presidential aspirants need 1,991 of the 3,979 pledged delegates to win the nomination during the Democratic National Convention in Wisconsin in July. In his speech, Biden laid out his vision for America, call on Americans to come together to address this global health pandemic, and describe how we will come out of the crisis stronger as one nation.
Biden spoke from his home in Delaware keeping the guidelines of avoiding a gathering of 10 or more people. He urged supporters of the Sanders campaign to join him. Commending the remarkable passion and tenacity of Sanders’ supporters, he said that they have shifted the fundamental conversation in this country.
“I hear you. I know what's at stake. I know what we have to do,” Biden said in an impressive speech. “This is over. It's over. The election is over tonight. I think that is very clear,” former US president Barack Obama’s adviser David Axelrod said.
In his brief address, Biden said that tackling this pandemic is a national emergency akin to fighting a war. It will require leadership and cooperation from every level of government. “It will require us to move thoughtfully and decisively to quickly address both the public health crisis and the economic crisis we’re in. It will require us to pay attention to the medical and scientific and health experts”. —