I can hardly believe that it took six months to get us right back where we started, but apparently the Sadrists have given up on forcing out Nouri al-Maliki, and will choose him to serve again:

An alliance of Iraq’s Shi’ite political blocs picked incumbent Nuri al-Maliki on Friday as its nominee for prime minister, alliance officials said, ending months of wrangling that had stalled formation of a government.

The decision by the National Alliance, a merger of Maliki’s Shi’ite-led State of Law coalition and the Tehran-friendly Iraqi National Alliance (INA), marked a breakthrough in talks among Iraq’s political factions for a new government after a March 7 parliamentary election that produced no clear winner.

“We have nominated Maliki as the candidate of the National Alliance,” Ali al-Adeeb, a senior member of Maliki’s Dawa party said.

This probably gives Maliki enough support for another term, as the two Shiite blocks command the most votes in Parliament. But the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council would have to agree to this as well, along with a few smaller non-sectarian groups, to form a ruling coalition.

But this was the main hurdle. And it probably means that Iyad Allawi will be frozen out of the next government. Allawi has already said he would not participate in any government run by Maliki, and he’ll probably get his wish. He’s threatened that sectarian violence would ensue from this outcome. That train has left the station, actually; violence has grown in the months without a government, and Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia is resurgent.

I would say that we’ll see more stability in Iraq with a government than without one. But from a long-term standpoint, once again, the elections provided a result that strengthened ties between Iraq and Iran.

Incidentally, the Iraqi situation represents the longest post-election period without a government in world history.