What is the timeline for forming Iraqs government?
Iraqi officials predict the ballot-counting will take around two weeks. The new government is supposed to assume office by December 31, but Richard Lugar (R-IN), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned last week that Iraq’s government might not be up and running for at least four months. According to Nathan Brown, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the parliament has fifteen days to convene once the results are certified by the Independent Electoral Commission for Iraq (IECI). What is the process for picking Iraq’s top government positions? Once in power, the parliament’s first order of business is to select a president and prime minister. This requires selecting a so-called presidential council, comprising a president and two vice presidents, which must be approved by a two-thirds majority in parliament. Experts say the presidential council will likely be made up of a Kurdish president and two vice presidents, one Shiite and one Sunn
