Iraq's dominant Shi'ite political movement on Sunday voted for current premier Ibrahim Jaafari as their candidate for prime minister in the country's first permanent post-Saddam Hussein government.
Jaafari won 64 votes, narrowly defeating vice president Adel Abdel Mahdi with 63 in a ballot, a member of the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) said after the group failed to reach an agreement by consensus on Saturday.
According to the Iraqi constitution, it is now up to the president and two vice-presidents to choose a prime minister from the group with the most MPs in the 275-member parliament.
The contest for prime minister became a two-horse race after Nadim Jabiri of Fadhila Party and Hussein Shahristani from an independent Shi'ite block decided to withdraw.
The UIA was confirmed on Friday as the winner of the December 15 election, paving the way for the formation of the first permanent post-Saddam government almost three years after the US-led invasion of Iraq.
It won 128 seats in the 275-member parliament, while an alliance of Sunni and secular groups, the Joint Council for National Action, took 80, and the Kurdish Alliance won 53.
The remaining seats are shared by small parties, mostly representing ethnic and religious minorities.
{{/usCountry}}The remaining seats are shared by small parties, mostly representing ethnic and religious minorities.
{{/usCountry}}US authorities say they hope the new government will be inclusive and focused on unifying the country's diverse ethnic communities.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw described the results as "a decisive step on the road to establishing a strong democracy."