NAJAF, Iraq, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- All political parties need to work together to address security and service issues in the new Iraqi government, Iraq's leading Shiite cleric said.
Iraq is moving closer to forming a formal government after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki managed in November to secure enough support for a second term more than eight months after parliamentary elections.
Osama al-Nujaifi, the Iraqi parliamentary speaker from the Iraqiya slate, told the Voice of Iraq news agency following a meeting with Iraq's Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani that cooperation was the main feature of his talks with the revered cleric.
"His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Sistani has stressed the principle of national partnership and the need that all political blocs participate in the decision-making process and pay utmost attention to security and services," he said from the Shiite holy city of Najaf.
Maliki secured a second term through a nomination process in the Iraqi Parliament after lawmakers nominated Nujaifi, a Sunni, as the speaker. Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, retained his position as president of Iraq.
The speaker added that all parties in the new government were keen to move ahead in the spirit of multilateralism.
"The time of discrimination among religious groups and provinces is over," he said. "We are now seeking a fair government that would serve all groups of Iraqi people away from any forms of discrimination."
