Peter Doyle, a former IMF economist, says the Treuhand offers the closest parallels: the agency had full control over government ministries to sell assets quickly.
To hold successive coalitions together, each party got control over particular ministries and associated industries to raise money and reward supporters.
The prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, has little control over his ministries, many of which are in the hands of his rivals.
But on Saturday evening, lawmakers still appeared to be jockeying for control over important ministries that control Iraq's security forces, oil and public services, as well as other high-ranking positions.
In her defense, it is often pointed out, correctly, that the military retains significant power in Burma, including in parliament and control over key ministries, and that she can only do so much.
A new constitution rigged in the military's favour already gave the generals who had ruled for decades control over key ministries and barred her from the presidency, so her candidates for parliament needed every vote they could get.
Mālikī's critics continued to accuse him of exercising personal control over the ministries of defense, the interior, and national security and of using the forces at his disposal to punish his political and sectarian rivals.
And an especially complex and chaotic parliamentary system — at the moment, more than two dozen parties hold seats in the national legislature — means the only way to create a governing coalition is to dole out patronage to parties, often in the form of control over government ministries, in exchange for their support.
The Parchamites took control over the ministries of finance, agriculture, communications and border affairs.
