Iraq has officially broken the world record for time taken to form a new government. In 1977, it took 208 days for Dutch politicians to agree to a coalition. Analysts believe that even more time will be needed to resolve March's inconclusive elections results.
Last Friday [1st October], the main Shi'a coalition finally decided to nominate the incumbent prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki for a second term in office. But the National Alliance - a merger of al-Maliki's State of Law coalition and the Iraqi National Alliance of the radical Shi'a cleric Moqtada Sadr - is four seats short of the parliamentary majority needed to confirm the appointment.
The secular Iraqiya bloc led by former prime minister Iyad Allawi, which barely just won the election, has made it clear that it will oppose such a move. It took almost three months to ratify the results of Iraq's parliamentary election and ever since then neither Allawi nor al-Maliki have been able to reach an agreement, or muster a big enough coalition to make a majority.
Source: BBC News
For more news and expert analysis about Iraq, please see Iraq Focus.
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