Iraq sets record for longest government deadlock
Country takes dubious distinction from The Netherlands as Al Sadr agrees to throw his support behind Al Maliki
Baghdad: Iraq on Friday surpassed the previous record for the country that has gone the longest between holding a parliamentary election and forming a government, experts say.
The Netherlands had held that dubious record after a series of failed attempts left the country without an elected government for 207 days in 1977, according to Christopher Anderson, director of the Institute for European Studies at Cornell University.
Iraqis have now spent 208 days with no new government and, while the Dutch weathered their storm, Iraq's weak institutions may not hold up against mounting pressure and a steady level of violence.
The most optimistic Iraqi politicians expect the process to take at least another month.
"Iraq has very weak institutions and a caretaker government that can do very little. This makes for a potentially highly unstable and precarious situation," Joost Hiltermann, a Dutch national and an expert on Iraq at the International Crisis Group, said.
Meanwhile, powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr has agreed to support the bid by Iraq's prime minister Nouri Al Maliki to retain power. The decision would significantly boost Al Maliki's Shiite-led coalition's chances of securing enough parliament seats to form a new government.
- With inputs from AP
