January 07, 2011
Iraq's vast economic challenge
Iraq's vast economic challenge
Maliki must contend with the impact of US withdrawal.
After one of the longest political stalemates in modern history, Iraq finally has a new government. Or rather, it almost has a new government. Last March, the country went to the polls for only the second time since Saddam Hussein's removal. After interminable horse-trading and an interregnum that has left Iraq largely rudderless, parliament in Baghdad has endorsed a new government that will keep Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki in office, even though his State of Law coalition came second in the number of seats it won.
Even though Mr Maliki has named ministers to 33 cabinet posts, vacancies remain for several key jobs, including the defence, national security and interior ministries that are vital as President Barack Obama prepares to withdraw US forces by the end of this year. The pressure is on to build national structures to replace them.
For countries that helped create the conditions that allowed last year's election to be held, the protracted political paralysis is disappointing and hardly a cause for optimism. Important economic and security decisions have been left pending, corruption has increased and services such as electricity and water have further declined. The result has produced an inevitable growth in public cynicism about the political process and the nascent democracy now restored.
This is not to minimise the difficulties that were inevitable in forming a new government. Mr Maliki's Shia alliance won 89 seats in the new parliament while the multi-ethnic but largely Sunni Iraqiya block of former prime minister Iyad Allawi won 91. After such a close result, compromise was essential, and it is to the credit of both men that the new arrangement approved by parliament provides for effective power-sharing between Shi'ites and Sunnis. Both have agreed to a US proposal for the establishment of a national security council with extensive powers, to be headed by Mr Allawi.
During the interregnum, Mr Maliki has wasted time trying to placate the wishes of the Ahmadinejad regime in Iran, which has been promoting the cause of a Shia front, including cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has returned to Baghdad after three years' exile in Tehran. Mr Maliki's task now is to bring about economic reforms and ensure an equitable distribution of the country's vast oil wealth. He should get on with it.
After one of the longest political stalemates in modern history, Iraq finally has a new government. Or rather, it almost has a new government. Last March, the country went to the polls for only the second time since Saddam Hussein's removal. After interminable horse-trading and an interregnum that has left Iraq largely rudderless, parliament in Baghdad has endorsed a new government that will keep Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki in office, even though his State of Law coalition came second in the number of seats it won.
Even though Mr Maliki has named ministers to 33 cabinet posts, vacancies remain for several key jobs, including the defence, national security and interior ministries that are vital as President Barack Obama prepares to withdraw US forces by the end of this year. The pressure is on to build national structures to replace them.
For countries that helped create the conditions that allowed last year's election to be held, the protracted political paralysis is disappointing and hardly a cause for optimism. Important economic and security decisions have been left pending, corruption has increased and services such as electricity and water have further declined. The result has produced an inevitable growth in public cynicism about the political process and the nascent democracy now restored.
This is not to minimise the difficulties that were inevitable in forming a new government. Mr Maliki's Shia alliance won 89 seats in the new parliament while the multi-ethnic but largely Sunni Iraqiya block of former prime minister Iyad Allawi won 91. After such a close result, compromise was essential, and it is to the credit of both men that the new arrangement approved by parliament provides for effective power-sharing between Shi'ites and Sunnis. Both have agreed to a US proposal for the establishment of a national security council with extensive powers, to be headed by Mr Allawi.
During the interregnum, Mr Maliki has wasted time trying to placate the wishes of the Ahmadinejad regime in Iran, which has been promoting the cause of a Shia front, including cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has returned to Baghdad after three years' exile in Tehran. Mr Maliki's task now is to bring about economic reforms and ensure an equitable distribution of the country's vast oil wealth. He should get on with it.
