2/12/2006 The Shia bloc set to lead Iraq's first full-term government has picked PM Ibrahim Jaafari as its candidate for prime minister in the new cabinet. Mr Jaafari won by one vote over Vice-President Adel Abdel Mahdi.
Jaafari Wins on Basis of Dawa, Sadrist Vote: Stability of UIA In Question | Shias pick kingpin

The December 15th Iraqi election produced a parliament divided along sectarian and ethnic lines. The Shiite fundamentalist United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), which dominates the existing transitional government of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, won 128 seats. A large UIA vote in Baghdad was mainly due to the participation of supporters of the cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The parties most clearly identified with the US occupation did not fare well. The Iraqi National List led by longtime CIA asset Iyad Allawi—who was installed by the Bush administration as Iraq’s interim prime minister in 2004—won only 25 of the 275 seats despite a massive advertising campaign and barely concealed US backing. The Iraqi National Congress of Ahmed Chalabi, who helped the Bush administration to fabricate many of its claims that the Hussein regime was assembling “weapons of mass destruction,” did not win a single seat.
Read More | Sunni Arab Politicians threaten Civil Disobedience | Ethnic Tensions Rising in Kirkuk | Sadrists Demand any Prime Minister Call for US Troop Withdrawal | Basra governor threatens to stop liaison with British | Sunni Arabs warn of Paralysis | Coverage Of The 2005 UIA Election Win

According to Iraqi blogger Riverbend:
The fact that a Shia, Iran-influenced religious list came out on top is hardly surprising. I’m surprised, however, at Iraqis who seem to be astonished at the outcome. Didn’t we, over the last three years, see this coming? Iranian influenced clerics had a strong hold right from 2003. Their militias were almost instantly incorporated into the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defense as soon a move was made to create new Iraqi security forces. Sistani has been promoting them from day one.
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Shia religious parties, like SCIRI and Da’awa, have decidedly changed their tone in the last year. During 2003, they were friends of America- they owed the US their current power inside of the country. Today, as Iraqis are becoming more impatient with the American presence inside of Iraq, they are claiming that they will be the end of the ‘occupiers’. They openly blame the Americans for the lack of security and general chaos. The message is quite different. In 2003, there was general talk of a secular Iraq; today, that no longer seems to be an option.

In 2003, Jaffari was claiming he didn’t want to see Iraqi women losing their rights, etc. He never mentioned equal rights- but he did throw in a word here and there about how Iraqi women had a right to an education and even a job. I was changing channels a couple of weeks ago and I came across Jaffari speaking to students from Mustansiriya University
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On his right sat an Ayatollah with a black turban and black robes. He looked stern and he nodded with satisfaction as Jaffari spoke to the students (or penguins). His speech wasn’t about science, technology or even development- it was a religious sermon about heaven and hell, good and evil.
Read More | Past Coverage Of Fundamentalism In Iraq