28 April 2005
Bush Welcomes Formation of New Iraqi Government
President says United States will continue to support Iraq's progress
President Bush congratulated the Iraqi Transitional National Assembly on its April 28 vote to confirm the proposed government of Prime Minister Ibrahim Ja'afari and expressed his confidence in the new government's ability to meet the challenges of ensuring security, providing citizen services and drafting a new constitution.
"They . have approved a list of Cabinet Ministers who will represent the unity and diversity of Iraq in the months ahead," Bush said in an April 28 statement.
The Assembly approved Ja'afari's 32-member Cabinet with 180 of the 185 members present voting in favor of the government.
The vote brings an end to nearly three months of political haggling between the parties that earned Assembly seats in Iraq's January 30 elections. Those elections gave Iraq its first democratic government in over half a century.
"Iraqi voters faced danger on January 30 in hopes of establishing a government that represents all Iraqis. Their hopes are now being realized," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an April 28 statement.
Rice said it was not surprising that the process of forming a government had taken so long.
"The Iraqis haven't had what I would call horizontal conversations in many, many years because it has been a dictatorship," she told NBC News' Rosalind Jordan April 27. Rice said it was a "helpful sign" that Iraqis were engaged in this sort of give and take over the distribution of government positions.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, also welcomed the formation of the government and urged the Iraqis to unite behind the government's work.
"The UN encourages all Iraqis to come together and to make the success of Iraq's historic transition to a united and prosperous constitutional democracy their highest priority," he said in an April 28 statement.
President Bush affirmed that the United States would continue to stand by Iraq as it works to build a stable, peaceful and democratic country.
The Assembly will now turn to its primary task, that of drafting a permanent constitution to serve as a foundation for Iraq's political institutions. According to the provisions of the Transitional Administrative Law, the assembly has until August 15 to propose such a document, which will then be submitted for approval in a national referendum October 15. If approved, the constitution will serve as the basis for a new round of national elections on December 15.
Following are the texts of the Bush and Rice statements:
(begin text)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
April 28, 2005
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
Iraq's Transitional National Assembly has voted by an overwhelming margin to confirm Ibrahim Ja'afari as Iraq's next Prime Minister. They also have approved a list of Cabinet Ministers who will represent the unity and diversity of Iraq in the months ahead. I join with all Americans in congratulating Iraq's new leaders and in wishing them well as they begin to serve their country in this new government. I appreciate the dedicated work of the outgoing interim government, which has governed Iraq for the last ten months.
The Iraqi Transitional Government will confront important challenges in fighting terrorists and enemies of democracy, training the Iraqi Security Forces, and providing basic services to its citizens. It will also lead the difficult and essential work of drafting a new constitution for a free and democratic Iraq. The United States is confident that the new government will meet these challenges in the months ahead, and America will stand by Iraq, its leaders, and the Iraqi people as they continue their work to establish a stable, peaceful, and democratic Iraq.
(end text)
(begin text)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
(Santiago, Chile)
April 28, 2005
Statement By Secretary Of State Condoleezza Rice
Iraqi Transitional Government
I congratulate Prime Minister Ibrahim al Ja'afari and his Council of Ministers on the vote of confidence they received today from Iraq's Transitional National Assembly. I also offer my sincere congratulations to the people of Iraq at this historic moment - for the first time in generations, they have a democratically-elected government. Iraqi voters faced danger on January 30 in hopes of establishing a government that represents all Iraqis. Their hopes are now being realized.
Iraqis now turn to the next stage in the transitional political process envisioned in U.N. Security Council Resolution 1546 and spelled out in the Transitional Administrative Law, the drafting of a permanent constitution that meets the needs of all Iraqis. Iraqis have our continuing admiration and full support as they begin this vital work, to produce a draft constitution by August 15, a referendum on the draft constitution by October 15, and an election for a new government by December 15, 2005.
The United States remains committed to doing all it can to support the Iraqi people, the Transitional National Assembly, and the Transitional government in their efforts to ensure democracy, prosperity, security and the rule of law.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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