It's a safe bet that the United Iraqi Alliance party will be running Iraq next month. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has openly backed the United Iraqi Alliance party and most of Iraq's population is Shiite. However it appears that Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, who heads the United Iraqi Alliance party will not be prime minister, refer to:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,144491,00.html

Apparently Adel Abdul-Mahdi is going to get the job of Prime Minister. Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim is a Shiite cleric while Adel Abdul-Mahdi is a technocrat (Abdul-Mahdi is currently Finance Minister). This might(?) be due to Sistani. Sistani has made it clear that he disapproves of clerics getting directly involved in politics. This might also be a tactic. Here's the key quote:

"Abdul-Mahdi worked with the Americans who directly ruled Iraq for 14 months until last June, and according to diplomats who know him, he's a seasoned politician who has reached out to Kurds and Sunni Arabs."

My guess is Sistani wants a Prime Minister that the Kurds are comfortable with and causes minimum issues with the moderate Sunni Arabs.

Gary