Saturday, October 02, 2010
Iraq's Maliki likely to be re-elected - Premier secures support of anti-U.S. Shiite group
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appeared almost assured of a second term in office Friday after securing the support of an anti-U.S. Shiite Islamic movement whose return to political power could profoundly complicate relations with the United States.
The deal came as a breakthrough, after nearly seven months of bare-knuckle back-room bargaining that followed the country's election March 7. It came with political costs, uncertainty and risks, splintering a broad Shiite alliance and threatening to raise tensions with Sunnis, who largely supported a secular Shiite leader, Ayad Allawi.
As a result, it could still take weeks or longer for Mr. Maliki to secure re-election and form a new government, even as public frustration and extremist violence continue to mount. But Mr. Maliki spoke late Friday night with certainty that the long contest of wills was finally over.
"We are confident that with the cooperation and efforts of honorable and faithful Iraqis, we will, God willing, be able to overcome the difficulties, challenges and problems and complete the construction of the institutions of state of a free, democratic Iraq," Mr. Maliki said on television.
He owes his new support to the extraordinary political resurrection of Muqtada al-Sadr, the self-exiled cleric whose fighters once battled in the streets of Baghdad, Basra and other cities with Iraqi and U.S. troops. Until days ago, he fiercely opposed Mr. Maliki's re-election.
Mr. Maliki's success reflected his tenacity -- tinged with authoritarianism -- to retain power, despite widespread opposition to his leadership. It also showed his willingness to disregard, for political expediency, U.S. concerns about the return of Mr. Sadr's followers to the center of political power.
A dour, uncharismatic leader, Mr. Maliki has persisted in arguing that only he can prevent a descent into the sectarian carnage that consumed Iraq when he took office in 2006, even if that means allying with a movement blamed for much of the violence.
While Obama administration officials insisted during months of quiet diplomacy that they preferred no candidate, only a broadly inclusive government, they made clear that they did not favor a government that included the Sadrists, who are closely allied with Iran and oppose the presence of U.S. troops.
This week, a senior U.S. military commander in Baghdad blamed Shiite extremist groups, including one affiliated with Mr. Sadr, for a spike in rocket attacks on the capital's Green Zone.
In Washington, Obama administration officials were noticeably cool to news of the agreement between Mr. Maliki and Mr. Sadr, in no small part because it signaled an ascendant Iranian influence in Iraq.
"An Iraqi government that owes its existence to the Sadrists and lacks strong support from Allawi would necessarily be one that leans in Tehran's direction, something Washington can little afford at the moment," Daniel P. Serwer, a U.S. Institute of Peace vice president, said in an e-mail.
Mr. Maliki, who is 60, now has the backing of at least 148 lawmakers in the new 325-member Parliament to form a government, just short of a majority. The Kurds, with 57 seats among several parties, indicated Friday that they, too, would support his re-election, though only with concessions on territorial, economic and political issues.
"Now, he has a great possibility to become prime minister again," said a prominent Kurdish lawmaker, Mahmoud Othman.
That would give Mr. Maliki a solid majority, although he must still cobble together a governing coalition among various parties jockeying for control of important positions and ministries, especially those overseeing oil and the security forces.
Mr. Maliki's nomination underscored the ever-shifting alliances of power here. The Sadrists at first backed Adel Abdul Mahdi, one of two vice presidents who is a leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which was part of a broader Shiite alliance that joined Mr. Maliki's bloc after the election, only to disagree over who should be prime minister.
That party's leaders boycotted the nominating session Friday and met later with Mr. Allawi. A party member, Ali Shubar, said it would oppose Mr. Maliki because "we won't vote for another failed government."
The Sadrist leaders present Friday did not explain their sudden swing toward Mr. Maliki.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10275/1092090-82.stm
Iraq's Maliki likely to be re-elected - Premier secures support of anti-U.S. Shiite group
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appeared almost assured of a second term in office Friday after securing the support of an anti-U.S. Shiite Islamic movement whose return to political power could profoundly complicate relations with the United States.
The deal came as a breakthrough, after nearly seven months of bare-knuckle back-room bargaining that followed the country's election March 7. It came with political costs, uncertainty and risks, splintering a broad Shiite alliance and threatening to raise tensions with Sunnis, who largely supported a secular Shiite leader, Ayad Allawi.
As a result, it could still take weeks or longer for Mr. Maliki to secure re-election and form a new government, even as public frustration and extremist violence continue to mount. But Mr. Maliki spoke late Friday night with certainty that the long contest of wills was finally over.
"We are confident that with the cooperation and efforts of honorable and faithful Iraqis, we will, God willing, be able to overcome the difficulties, challenges and problems and complete the construction of the institutions of state of a free, democratic Iraq," Mr. Maliki said on television.
He owes his new support to the extraordinary political resurrection of Muqtada al-Sadr, the self-exiled cleric whose fighters once battled in the streets of Baghdad, Basra and other cities with Iraqi and U.S. troops. Until days ago, he fiercely opposed Mr. Maliki's re-election.
Mr. Maliki's success reflected his tenacity -- tinged with authoritarianism -- to retain power, despite widespread opposition to his leadership. It also showed his willingness to disregard, for political expediency, U.S. concerns about the return of Mr. Sadr's followers to the center of political power.
A dour, uncharismatic leader, Mr. Maliki has persisted in arguing that only he can prevent a descent into the sectarian carnage that consumed Iraq when he took office in 2006, even if that means allying with a movement blamed for much of the violence.
While Obama administration officials insisted during months of quiet diplomacy that they preferred no candidate, only a broadly inclusive government, they made clear that they did not favor a government that included the Sadrists, who are closely allied with Iran and oppose the presence of U.S. troops.
This week, a senior U.S. military commander in Baghdad blamed Shiite extremist groups, including one affiliated with Mr. Sadr, for a spike in rocket attacks on the capital's Green Zone.
In Washington, Obama administration officials were noticeably cool to news of the agreement between Mr. Maliki and Mr. Sadr, in no small part because it signaled an ascendant Iranian influence in Iraq.
"An Iraqi government that owes its existence to the Sadrists and lacks strong support from Allawi would necessarily be one that leans in Tehran's direction, something Washington can little afford at the moment," Daniel P. Serwer, a U.S. Institute of Peace vice president, said in an e-mail.
Mr. Maliki, who is 60, now has the backing of at least 148 lawmakers in the new 325-member Parliament to form a government, just short of a majority. The Kurds, with 57 seats among several parties, indicated Friday that they, too, would support his re-election, though only with concessions on territorial, economic and political issues.
"Now, he has a great possibility to become prime minister again," said a prominent Kurdish lawmaker, Mahmoud Othman.
That would give Mr. Maliki a solid majority, although he must still cobble together a governing coalition among various parties jockeying for control of important positions and ministries, especially those overseeing oil and the security forces.
Mr. Maliki's nomination underscored the ever-shifting alliances of power here. The Sadrists at first backed Adel Abdul Mahdi, one of two vice presidents who is a leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which was part of a broader Shiite alliance that joined Mr. Maliki's bloc after the election, only to disagree over who should be prime minister.
That party's leaders boycotted the nominating session Friday and met later with Mr. Allawi. A party member, Ali Shubar, said it would oppose Mr. Maliki because "we won't vote for another failed government."
The Sadrist leaders present Friday did not explain their sudden swing toward Mr. Maliki.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10275/1092090-82.stm
