Iraqi Leader Creates Broad Coalition

By STEVEN LEE MYERS New York Times BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki announced the formation of a broad political coalition on Thursday, setting the stage for a parliamentary election campaign dominated by rival blocs claiming to appeal across Iraq’s sectarian and ethnic divides. Mr. Maliki, a Shiite seeking a second term, assembled an array of political figures and tribal leaders in a hotel ballroom inside the heavily fortified Green Zone and pledged that his coalition, State of Law, would represent those “believing in the unity of Iraq and its social diversity.” “The birth of the State of Law coalition is a historic turning point and a qualitative development in the building of a modern Iraqi state,” Mr. Maliki told the gathering. Mr. Maliki’s strategy is something of a gamble, especially after he refused to join a rival coalition, the Iraqi National Alliance, dominated by parties that represent Shiites, who make up a majority among Iraqis. A coalition with Mr. Maliki unchallenged in the top spot was not a surprise, but its unveiling on Thursday was a measure of his ability to draw support across the country, especially in areas where Shiites are a minority. State of Law embraces 40 parties or organizations, and Mr. Maliki and his aides on Thursday invited still more to join. Those who appeared with Mr. Maliki included Shiites and Sunnis, Kurds and Christians. On the stage and in the hall, the headdresses of tribal leaders significantly outnumbered the turbans of clerics, a significant shift, given the religious and sectarian roots of Mr. Maliki’s own party, Dawa. Few of those who joined him, however, are truly national leaders likely to lure major blocs of votes. The coalition did recruit several current ministers and government officials and peeled away several politicians previously allied with Ayad Allawi, who served as interim prime minister for a year after the American invasion and occupation. One of them, Hachim al-Hasany, a deputy speaker of Parliament, said State of Law had created a more inclusive bloc and pledged to act by consensus, though its leader is unmistakably Mr. Maliki. “It isn’t good enough to talk about these things,” he said of appeals for national unity, now ubiquitous in Iraq’s politics. “It’s good enough to believe them and to have people who came implement them.” Sheik Nuri al-Enizzi, a Sunni tribal leader from Baghdad, said Mr. Maliki had earned support in Sunni areas with his willingness to order assaults against Shiite militias in southern Iraq last year and by reaching across sectarian lines since then. “He opened channels of trust,” he said after the meeting. Mr. Maliki’s main rival will be the Iraqi National Alliance, formed by two of the largest Shiite parties: the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, led by Ammar al-Hakim, and the Sadrists, followers of the cleric and militia leader Moktada al-Sadr, whose supporters have sought to recast his movement as a purely political and social one. The main Kurdish parties in northern Iraq are expected to form their own alliance, while other Sunni parties, which are badly splintered, are jockeying to form coalitions, often with secular political leaders. None of the other blocs have so far clearly identified a candidate for prime minister who would be able to directly challenge Mr. Maliki. The election is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 16, but Parliament returned to work this week unable to agree on the law needed to hold the election and under what rules. Mr. Maliki, in his remarks on Thursday, outlined a broad political platform that called for strong federal authority over security and natural resources but also an independent judiciary. Mr. Maliki, often accused by his critics of amassing too much power, pledged to root out corruption and partisan influence in the security forces, to promote human rights and to expand the role of women in politics, government and society. He also warned neighboring countries against interference in Iraq’s internal affairs — a thinly veiled caution to Syria, which he has accused of harboring terrorists planning attacks in Iraq — and vowed that the last American troops would leave by the end of 2011, as scheduled. “This election sends a clear message to the world that the people of Iraq are holding on to the democratic option, to freedom and a multiparty system,” he said. “They have turned forever the pages of tyranny and repression.”