With early vote unlikely, Iraqis debate options

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2027&ncid=2027&e=5&u=/chitribts/20040220/ts_chicagotrib/withearlyvoteunlikelyiraqisdebateoptions

With early vote unlikely, Iraqis debate options
By Evan Osnos, Tribune foreign correspondent. Tribune wire services contributed to this story

<snip>The ideas range from expanding the current U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council from 25 to 75 members to holding a national summit of leaders representing Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and other religious and political leaders to select an interim government.

But each of the proposals faces stiff opposition from various factions in Iraq, complicating the vexing problem of how best to handle the transition to an Iraqi civilian government.

"There are literally dozens of ways to carry out this very complicated task" of selecting the government, U.S. administrator Paul Bremer said at a news conference Thursday in Baghdad, as he reaffirmed the Bush administration's intent to hand over power as scheduled. "There are caucuses that cascade downwards, upward-cascading caucuses, various other kinds of selections, partial elections." <snip>

"We do not have any solutions. The elections cannot be done, and the caucuses cannot be done," said Farsat Ahmed, a top official from the Kurdish Democratic Party. "We are waiting for the United Nations to give us the alternative."

Some Iraqi leaders want the new sovereign state to be handed to the Governing Council after expanding it from 25 members to as many as 75. But by all accounts, the expansion proposal is an imperfect solution. Populated largely with former Iraqi exiles, the council never has drawn wide support and is viewed largely as a U.S. proxy.

Another proposal would shrink the council to a core group of custodians who would work with government ministers to maintain the functions of government. But many fear that would slow the pace of reconstruction while giving a small group a high degree of power.
<snip>

The jockeying has produced previously sudden alliances. In recent days, some Sunni Muslims have swung their support behind Shiites, and some Shiites have hinted at an alliance with Kurds. <snip>