GOVERNMENT FORMATION UPDATE: MUCH SWIRLING,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001566 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2026 TAGS: PGOV PNAT IZ SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT FORMATION UPDATE: MUCH SWIRLING, LITTLE PROGRESS REF: BAGHDAD 1559 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: POL Couns Robert Ford, reason 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: We still see no closure on the key Interior, Defense and Finance ministry portfolios. Tawafuq negotiator Ali Baban told Poloff on May 10 that Tawafuq wanted the Planning, Education and Health Ministries but has not yet received confirmation that they will get them. He also said that Sheykh Khalaf Alayan, as head of the National Dialogue Council, one of the three parties in Tawafuq, may insist on a government position. Iraqiya leaders met with their negotiating team on May 11 in a meeting described as indecisive, tentative and uneasy. Amid allegations that some Iraqiya List leaders were negotiating separate agreements with the Shia for government positions, Iraqiya negotiator Hussein Sha'alan told PolFSN on May 11 that leaders of the Iraqiya list would stand with Ayad Allawi until they see what ministries are offered to them. KDP member and possible Kurd Ministry of Industry nominee Fawzi Hariri told Poloff May 11 that he was not qualified for the position and would prefer Transportation or Construction and Housing. Christian leader Yonadam Kanna blustered to Poloff on May 11 that Iraqi Christians in the US would stage demonstrations to protest what he termed the lockout of Christians from the Iraqi government. Kanna believed that his one seat in the parliament entitled his party to a ministerial slot in the government. End Summary. -------------- Tawafuq Firm on Desired Ministries -------------- ¶2. (C) Tawafuq Front ministerial negotiator Ali Baban told Poloff on May 10 evening that Tawafuq continued to insist that it be awarded the Planning, Education and Health Ministries. Baban said that he was the proposed candidate for the Planning Ministry and that President Talabani sent a letter to Prime Minister-designate Maliki late May 10 supporting the nomination. Tawafuq was nominating Dr. Rafia'a al-Eesawee for the Health Ministry, said Baban. He said that Tawafuq proposed several names for the Education Ministry. He characterized Tawafuq's nomination of Sheykh Khalaf Alayan for Defense as a political ploy to placate one of the leaders of the Front. Poloff asked whether Alayan was not placated with Mahmud Mashadani's election to the position of parliament Speaker - the most senior Tawafuq political appointment, since both Alayan and Mashadani came from the Front's National Dialogue Council group. Baban responded that Alayan may still seek some type of appointment for himself. Baban complained about that there were lots of problems working with Iraqiya as its leaders were breaking away and attempting to negotiate separate deals with the Shia. -------------- Iraqiya tentative as ever -------------- ¶3. (C) On May 11, one of Iraqiya's three-man negotiating team, Sheykh Hussein Ali Sha'alan, told PolFSN that the Iraqiya list had met that morning to discuss what candidates to put forth for which ministries. Instead, Sha'alan described the meeting as indecisive, tentative and uneasy. Sha'alan reported that Adnan Pachachi continued to complain about losing out to Tawafuq on the deputy premiership while other members complained that the negotiating team was not doing its job. Sha'alan argued that the Shia Coalition keeps changing the distribution, making it difficult to make counter offers. The members looked to Ayad Allawi to lead the bloc in deciding which cabinet positions to pursue. In the end, the group agreed to wait and see what the Shia Coalition would be willing to give Iraqiya. Sha'alan downplayed rumors that the Shia Coalition has been lobbying various Shia members to leave Iraqiya, but did not discount the possibility. He said, "Until we know what we get, we will stand with Allawi." -------------- KDP to work for PUK ? -------------- ¶4. (C) On May 11, KDP member Fawzi Hariri told PolOff that he was not particularly pleased that the Kurdish leadership may secure for him the next Minister of Industry position. He admitted that he does not have the qualifications to run this ministry. Knowing that the Shia Coalition is unlikely to relinquish the Transportation ministry, Hariri said he would pursue securing the Ministry of Construction and BAGHDAD 00001566 002 OF 002 Housing where he thought he has better qualifications. Otherwise, he claimed that he would resign his post as Ministry of Foreign Affairs Chief of Staff and ask for a position working for PUK Deputy Prime Minister nominee Barham Salih. -------------- -------------- Christian Leader Unhappy - Claims Ministry Entitlement -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) Leader of the Assyrian Christian group Yonadam Kanna complained forcefully to Poloff on May 11 that the Kurds were locking the Christians out the government. He demanded that the Embassy insist that he, as the representative of Iraqi Minorities Council, be the one who nominated the "Christian" minister. He claimed that the Christian community in the US was incensed because the reputed token Christian, Fawzi Hariri, had never been connected with the Christian political movement in Iraq. Christians in the US would organize protest demonstrations, he blustered. Kanna told Poloff that the Christians were entitled to a Ministry based on the constitutional requirement that minorities be represented in government. Poloff suggested that Kanna negotiate Christian participation in government with PM-designate Maliki or with the Kurds, arguing that one parliamentary seat did not necessary entitle his party to a ministry. Poloff continued that if the Kurds agreed to use one of their ministerial slots to appoint a Christian, Kanna could take advantage of this to argue with the Kurds that he, as representative of the Iraqi Minority Council, should be consulted on the nomination. KHALILZAD