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This article looks at the current government in Iraq under interim prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Al-Jaafari will not be prime minister after the Dec. 15 vote, but his successor will probably not have a governing majority. The current cabinet was chosen through compromise and al-Jaafari has little or no control over it. After the Dec. 15th vote it is unlikely that the new prime minister will be able to choose his own cabinet placing him in the same predicament as al-Jaafari. The prime minister's role is primarily that of a playground monitor. Al-Jaafari contends with a lack of control over his cabinet and with the possibility that the Department of the Interior may be involved in the assassination of Saddam Hussein's lawyers.

This article looks at the current government in Iraq under interim prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Al-Jaafari will not be prime minister after the Dec. 15 vote, but his successor will probably not have a governing majority. The current cabinet was chosen through compromise and al-Jaafari has little or no control over it. After the Dec. 15th vote it is unlikely that the new prime minister will be able to choose his own cabinet placing him in the same predicament as al-Jaafari. The prime minister's role is primarily that of a playground monitor. Al-Jaafari contends with a lack of control over his cabinet and with the possibility that the Department of the Interior may be involved in the assassination of Saddam Hussein's lawyers.

The article focuses on issues related to elections in Iraq scheduled to be held on December 15, 2005. The elections are unlikely to provide any party with a governing majority. What is certain is that the next head of government will inherit rampant corruption, stagnant oil exports, a crumbling infrastructure, deadly insurgencies, an Iraqi army riddled with factional militiamen and a police force suspected of conniving in sectarian violence.