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PRAGUE, May 24,
2006 (RFE/RL) -- Iraq's Council of Representatives
approved Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's cabinet at
a May 20 session, but not before one party stormed
out of the session to protest what it said was the
allocation of portfolios along sectarian lines.
Salih al-Mutlaq, the head of the Sunni-led Iraqi
Front for National Dialogue, led the walkout of some
15 representatives, saying al-Maliki had violated
the constitution by presenting an incomplete
cabinet.
Indeed, al-Maliki was unable to negotiate the
appointment of three key portfolios, and opted to
delay the appointment of ministers to the Interior,
Defense, and National Security ministries. He told
parliament on May 20 that for the time being, he
would oversee the Interior Ministry, while Sunni
Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zawba'i would oversee
the Defense Ministry and Kurdish Deputy Prime
Minister Barham Salih would oversee the National
Security Ministry.
Not Entering Government At Any Price
Al-Mutlaq had earlier complained of the United Iraqi
Alliance's (UIA) offer of three cabinet posts to his
party, which won 11 parliament seats in the December
elections, saying that the ministries offered --
Women's Affairs, Environment, and National Dialogue
-- were "secondary" posts.
More damning was al-Mutlaq's contention that the
Shi'ite-led UIA had demanded that his party change
its political platform in order to join the
government. Al-Mutlaq said the UIA twice demanded a
written pledge from him indicating that he would
change platform. "We will not pay this price to
enter the government," he told reporters at a May 20
press briefing in Baghdad.
Same Old Faces
The composition of the cabinet appears strikingly
similar to previous cabinets. Ministerial posts by
and large were divided among political blocs to
reflect the percentage of parliamentary seats won in
the election: the UIA has 17 ministers (128
parliament seats); the Kurds six (53 seats); the
Iraqi Accordance Front seven (44 seats); the Iraqi
National List six (25 seats); the Kurdistan Islamic
Union one (five seats); and the Islamic Action
Organization one. As far as minorities are
concerned, it appears that one minister is a Fayli (Shi'ite)
Kurd, one minister is a Shi'ite Turkoman, and two
ministers are Christians. Four of the 38 ministers
are women.
Four ministers held their posts from the
transitional government: Foreign Minister Hoshyar
Zebari, Minister of State for Parliamentary
Affairs Safa al-Din Muhammad al-Safi, Water
Resources Minister Abd al-Latif Rashid, and
Environment Minister Narmin Uthman.
In addition, three ministers from the transitional
government were moved to new ministerial posts.
Former Planning Minister Barham Salih is now deputy
prime minister, while former Construction and
Housing Minister Jasim Muhammad Ja'far is now the
minister of youth and sports. Perhaps most
controversially, former Interior Minister Bayan Jabr
is now finance minister. "I am not sure if the
person who was not able to preserve the blood of
Muslims [as interior minister] can protect the funds
of Muslims," Sunni parliamentarian Nasir al-Janabi
commented.
Rifts Appearing In Parties, Blocs
Apart from the breakdown of portfolios, there have
been rumors in the media about the solidity of
parliamentary blocs. The Al-Fadilah Party pulled out
of the negotiations over cabinet posts with other
parties in the UIA two weeks ago, saying sectarian
preferences, rather than qualifications, were
dominating the talks.
This week, much of the focus has been on the Iraqi
National List. Hamid Majid Musa, a leading member of
the secularist Shi'ite bloc, denied on May 22 that
there is a split within the coalition. "Our Iraqi
National List is an expanded political coalition
that brings together political parties,
organizations, and figures. It is democratic in its
nature and liberal in its composition. Hence,
different viewpoints are freely expressed within
this list....
What we have is a difference in individual judgment,
ideas, and visions on the political performance. In
our view, this is not a rift, but a healthy
phenomenon that helps us remain on track and
enhances the performance of the list," Musa told Al-Sharqiyah
television.
Iraqi National List member Izzat al-Shabandar told
the London-based newspaper "Al-Sharq al-Awsat" on
May 21 that rumors of a split within the list
surfaced because it held out on its decision to
participate in the government until minutes before
the announcement of the cabinet, the daily reported
on May 22. He said the list agreed to join the
government when it was offered another portfolio.
Like al-Mutlaq, Al-Shabandar maintained that his
list should have been allocated more cabinet posts.
He also maintained that the UIA was more
concerned during negotiations about satisfying the
demands of parties within the UIA than it was in
forming a national-unity government.
The UIA and the Sunni-led Iraqi Accordance Front
"have not abandoned their sectarian-based culture,"
he added. Al-Shabandar claimed that the new
government has "no aspect of a national-unity
government...except for the participation of the
Iraqi National List."
Little Faith In New Government
For his part, Iraqi National List head Iyad Allawi
has been less than optimistic over the ability of
the new government to better serve the Iraqi people.
He told "Al-Sharq al-Awsat" in an interview
published on May 20: "There is no doubt that the new
government...will be an extension of the former
government and the operation is no more than just an
operation of changing faces." He contended that al-Maliki's
government is likely to "fail short of its duties in
many areas," adding, "I believe it will take
measures only after a certain period of time
passes during which more funds, which are the
property of the Iraqi people, have been squandered."
Indeed, the new government faces a tough road ahead
if it is to address the problems currently plaguing
the country: a thriving insurgency and national
resistance, a failed economy, massive corruption, a
widening sectarian divide, and the unresolved
disputes regarding the constitution, to name a few.
Some Iraqis already doubt al-Maliki's commitment to
national unity. If he is to succeed in the next six
months, which he has declared the most crucial of
his administration, he will need to address the
criticisms of those who claim to have been
marginalized.
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