 In the lead up to the January 2005 Iraqi election INC joined the United Iraqi Alliance coalition of mainly Shi'ite groups as Chalabi reinvented himself as a sharp critic of the occupation, aligning himself with Muqtada al-Sadr.Chalabi was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister in the transitional government, and INC member Ali Allawi (the cousin of Ayad Allawi, and incidentally nephew of Chalabi) became Minister of Finance.In preparation for the December 2005 Iraqi election, INC broke with the United Iraqi Alliance and formed its own multi-ethnic coalition, the National Congress Coalition.