Iraqi political negotiations break world record

However the Iraqis were likely to take a good deal longer, as more negotiations were needed to resolve March's inconclusive election result.

Yesterday, the main Shia coalition announced it had only now decided to nominate incumbent Prime Minister Nouri Maliki for a second term of office.

But the National Alliance – a merger of Maliki's State of Law coalition and the Iraqi National Alliance of the radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr – was four seats short of the parliamentary majority needed to confirm the appointment.

The secular Iraqiya bloc led by former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, which narrowly won the election, had declared it would oppose such a move.

It had taken nearly three months just for the results of Iraq's parliamentary election on 7 March 2010 to be ratified, after numerous complaints and appeals.

Since then, the bargaining had gone “round in circles”.

Neither Allawi, whose alliance got most of the Sunni Arab vote and came out narrowly ahead with 91 seats in the Council of Representatives, nor the incumbent Iraq premier, whose State of Law coalition came second with two seats fewer, had been able to muster a big enough coalition to make a majority.

However, neither was willing to give up and let the other lead the new government, and that was what it was about.

All had agreed at the outset that the four major factions, including the Iraqi National Alliance and the Kurdistan Alliance, should all be included.

And despite agreement now by most Shia groups to nominate Maliki's for the premiership, there was still a lot of ground to cover before he can settle back into the job.