New Coalition, New Problems

The challenges of building an independent Iraq continue to grow as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the formation of a new coalition government yesterday which did not include any Sunni moderates.  In an attempt to end parliamentary stagnation, al-Maliki spearheaded the effort to “allow the passing of critical US-demanded legislation.”  Yet, without balanced representation the system is bound to run into severe problems.  Blogger Juan Cole explains that “the coalition is designed to exclude two Shiite parties, the Islamic Virtue Party and the Sadr Movement.”  From first glace Cole posits this move could remove problematic actors from parliament, however, at the same time it would exclude two major groups from the formation of public policy.  Alienation is never a good thing.  Still, perhaps the international community will be willing to turn a blind eye on the Sunnis, even traditional supporter countries like The Kingdom as noted here.