AP, Baghdad, 15 August 2014 — Nouri al-Maliki’s decision to step down as Iraq’s prime minister raised hopes Friday for a new government that can roll back an increasingly powerful Sunni insurgency and prevent the country from splitting apart.
But to do that his successor has to unify Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions that deeply distrust each other and have conflicting demands, all while dealing with a humanitarian crisis and the extremists’ continuing rampage in the north.
The man tapped to become the next prime minister, Haider al-Abadi , a veteran Shiite lawmaker, faces the immense challenge of trying to unite Iraqi politicians as he cobbles together a Cabinet in just over three weeks.
Al-Abadi said Friday his government will be based on “efficiency and integrity, to salvage the country from security, political and economic problems” — but that is easier said than done in a country where forming a government often falls victim to roadblocks and infighting. Sunni politicians are pressing for greater political influence, saying their disenfranchisement under al-Maliki’s Shiite-dominated government fueled support among the Sunni minority for the insurgency.
At the same time, the military needs significant bolstering after falling apart in the face of the militants’ advance and proving incapable of taking back lost territory.” Sunnis and Kurds were present in the Maliki government, but rarely included in the key decision-making process,” said retired Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmett, former military spokesman for coalition forces in Iraq. “One hopes that al-Abadi understands that inclusion has to be more than mere participation.”
Many Iraqis expressed a sense of relief Friday that al-Maliki had relented after weeks of insisting on a third four-year term, fueling a political crisis that raised fears of a coup in a country with a long history of violent power grabs.
During Friday prayers in Baghdad’s Shiite Sadr City district, a man distributed sweets to Shiite worshippers…
Sadr City is dominated by followers of powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, one of al-Maliki’s harshest critics.
Six years ago, al-Maliki sent security forces to battle al-Sadr’s militias to establish his authority and project his image as a national leader.
“We congratulate the Iraqi people for the victory that has been done this week. It is the week of congratulations,” said Ali Talaqani, a preacher loyal to al-Sadr, in his sermon to Sadr City worshippers.
Shiite factions turned against al-Maliki largely because they saw him as a domineering leader who monopolized power and allowed widespread corruption.
Critics say he staffed the military’s officer corps with incompetent loyalists, playing a major role in the army’s collapse in the face of the Islamic State militants over the past two months.
Sunni factions also accused him of widespread corruption. But their principle grievance was that his government sidelined their community, carrying out sweeping arrest raids and violently dispersing protests.
“We are ready to cooperate with al-Abadi to make him succeed in his mission on the condition that the demands of our Sunni people are met,” Ahmed al-Misari , a Sunni lawmaker, told The Associated Press.
“Our demands include stopping the army shelling of Sunni cities, releasing detainees, abolishing anti-terrorism laws, ending discrimination against our people and letting the people of Sunni provinces handle the security in their areas.”
The Kurds, meanwhile, had been locked in a dispute with Baghdad over oil revenues from their largely autonomous region in the north, which prompted Baghdad to slash the annual budget to the region earlier this year, stoking calls by the ethnic minority for independence.
“Issues between Irbil and Baghdad over oil revenues haven’t disappeared — they’re just in the background for now,” said Austin Long, a member of the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University.
“Government formation has never been easy in Iraq,” he added. “Al-Abadi has to consider that Irbil maybe wants some things that Baghdad may not be ready to give.”
Iraq’s most revered Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani , said in a Friday sermon delivered by his spokesman that there is a “dire need” for new leadership that can combat terrorism and heal sectarian divisions.
