Three rivals within the Shia-dominated coalition, which triumphed in Iraq's election, moved swiftly last night to bid for the job of prime minister.
Mr Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Mr Adel Abdul Mahdi are barely known outside the country and Mr Ahmad Chalabi is more infamous than famous. Yet one of them is expected to become a crucial player in the Middle East overnight.
Yesterday's announcement of the final tally from the January 30th election confirmed a sweeping victory for the United Iraqi Alliance, though its 47.6 per cent of votes cast was lower than some predictions.
It was enough, however, for leaders of the three main groupings within the coalition to advance their claim for the most powerful post in government. They worked the phones late into the night and sent emissaries to potential allies.
After the drama of election day when millions voted despite threats from insurgents, politics will become a game of largely behind-the-scenes deal-making between and within coalitions.
Trailing far behind the Shia list was a Kurdish alliance with 26 per cent and a list headed by the outgoing prime minister, Mr Iyad Allawi, with 13.8 per cent, giving the United Iraqi Alliance a strong claim over the prime ministership, a more powerful job than the presidency or national assembly chair.
It will be the first time that Shias, comprising 60 per cent of the population, have ruled Iraq after decades of domination by the minority Sunnis. The three leading candidates are secular male Shias who were exiled under Saddam Hussein's regime, but otherwise have little in common.
Many analysts consider the favourite to be Mr Mahdi (63), an economist who served as finance minister in the outgoing interim government. The son of a guerrilla who fought the British in the 1920s, he joined the Baath party in the 1960s when it espoused Arab nationalism and socialist economics. He said he quit in 1964 when members like Saddam moved up the ranks by killing opponents.
Mr Mahdi fled to France, where he obtained degrees in politics and economics and dabbled in Maoism before moving to Iran and joining the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. This group of exiles campaigned for Saddam's overthrow and an Islamic-guided government in their homeland. Some analysts wonder whether the urbane Mr Mahdi is a front man for hardliners within his party who want an Iran-style theocracy in Iraq guided by the country's leading Shia cleric.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani (76) is credited as the architect of the Shia coalition where rival parties gathered under one banner. The cleric will retain influence regardless of who becomes prime minister.
Mr Mahdi's main rival is Mr Jaafari (57), a physician whom polls suggest is Iraq's most popular politician after the grand ayatollah. Dr Jaafari, who was exiled in Britain, is considered a moderate.
"If asked to be prime minister, I would be willing to serve our nation," he said. "We have a responsibility now to work together for the sake of the people. They have made this magnificent gesture and we should all take it seriously and make it work." He advocated an inclusive administration that would respect the Kurds' mandate and reach out to Sunnis who abstained en masse from the election, partly because of threats from insurgents.
The third candidate, Mr Chalabi, is known internationally for heading a group of Iraqi exiles which fed Washington inaccurate reports of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction.
This contributed to a breach with the US administration and a raid on his house by American soldiers last year. Dogged by a 1992 conviction for embezzlement, Mr Chalabi was said to be one of Iraq's most unpopular politicians. But having got his party into the United Iraqi Alliance, he has courted an eclectic mix of pro-western Shias as well as Islamic radicals, giving him an outside chance of the prime minister's job if the two main candidates are deadlocked. - (Guardian Service)