Eight months after Iraq went to the polls, on Thursday President Jalal Talabani is giving incumbent Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki the mandate to form a new government within the next thirty days. Although Al-Maliki earned two less parliamentary seats than his rival, former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, he vowed he would not relinquish his position and proved true to his word. The final political juggling provides the nation with a Kurd president (Talabani); a Shiite prime minister (Al-Maliki) and a Sunni parliament speaker (still to be named).