BAGHDAD -Lawmakers broke days of rancorous stalemate yesterday and reached out to Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority for their parliament speaker, cutting through ethnic and sectarian barriers that have held up selection of a new government for more than two months since the country's first free elections in 50 years.
Deputies still face, however, difficult choices for Cabinet posts and failed again to name a new president -broadly expected to be Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani. That choice and those of two vice presidents were put off until a Wednesday session that could mark a major milestone as Iraq tries to build a democratic government and civil society.
Once the president and his deputies are selected, they have 14 days to choose a prime minister, the most powerful position in Iraq's envisioned government hierarchy. That job was widely believed reserved for Ibrahim al-Jaafari of the Shiite Muslim majority.
Pressure is building on parliamentarians, with some growing frustrated with the slow pace of forming a government, because they have an Aug. 15 deadline to write a permanent constitution -a task that cannot be undertaken until a government is in place.
Yesterday's selection as speaker -Industry Minister Hajim al-Hassani, one of only 17 Sunni Arabs in parliament -could signal progress in the political tussle over selecting politicians for key Cabinet posts, a process that has been snarled by disagreement over how to reach out to the Sunnis.
They are believed to make up the backbone of the Iraqi insurgency, were dominant under ousted dictator Saddam Hussein and largely boycotted the Jan. 30 elections or stayed home for fear of being attacked at the polls.
The choice of al-Hassani, however, was not well received in all quarters.
Osama Abdulfatah, a 30-year-old architect and a Sunni, said the new speaker's support last year of the U.S. assault on the militant stronghold of Fallujah showed he does not have beliefs and will never do anything against his benefit.
Al-Hassani refused to quit as industry ministry even though his Iraqi Islamic Party pulled out of the interim government over the issue.
How could we just trust such a traitor? Abdulfatah asked.
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