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An Iraqi "National Project," without
Kurds! 17.1.2008
By Qassim Khidhir
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January 17, 2008
Any such "project" will only be detrimental to
Kurdish demands.
A new agreement, called the National Project,
includes 140 members of Iraqi Parliament who don't
seem to have Kurds' best interests at heart.
Various Shiite and Sunni groups declared a new
political project, or agreement, called the National
Project, which aims to confront the sectarian system
and support Iraqi national reconciliation.
Apparently, however, not only is there no room for
Kurds in this National Project, but it also firmly
opposes any solution that would result in linking
Kirkuk to Kurdistan Region.
After the Kurdistan Coalition (KC), the only ally
that guarantees the stability and support of Iraqi
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government, became
skeptical of al-Maliki's intentions, al-Maliki's
government began backing several Shiite and Sunni
parties in an effort to survive.
The KC says al-Maliki failed to fulfill his promises
made to Kurdistan Region last summer and also failed
to bring national reconciliation.
The new project embraces the National Dialogue
Council; the (Sunni) National Dialogue Front (NDF)
of Saleh al-Mutlak; the Iraqi National List (INL) of
former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, the (Shiite)
Fadhila (Virtue) Party, and the Islamic Dawa Party,
to which incumbent Prime Minister al-Maliki belongs.
The new project will also encompass the Sadrist bloc
of Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, the Iraqi People's
Congress of Adnan al-Dulaimi,www.ekurd.net
as well as a number of
independent members of Iraqi Parliament. In total,
there are about 140 Parliament members involved in
the project ; this number of votes empowers these
groups to recall many law projects in Parliament.
The participants expressed that by becoming a part
of the National Project, there were no intentions of
forming a new bloc in Parliament; instead, they
would rather call it an agreement on several issues,
including enhancing Iraqi forces so as to take
charge of the country's security, a timetable of
withdrawal for multinational forces, oil, and Kirkuk
issues.
The parties say the new agreement came as a response
to a trilateral agreement between the Sunni Iraqi
Islamic Party, led by Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi,
and the two main Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan
Democratic Party, led by Kurdistan President Massoud
Barzani, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led
by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
Meanwhile, Kurds say the new agreement will only
work against Kurdish demands, since the parties
involved are against the regional signing of oil
contracts with foreign companies, similar to those
signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government. Project
members also came out in support of a political
agreement over the future of the northern oil-rich
city of Kirkuk, rather than a promised referendum
that had been due to be held last year.
Kurdistan Region President Barzani reacted angrily
to Prime Minister al-Maliki's being involved in the
new project.
"These actions against Article 140 [of the
Constitution, intended to normalize Kirkuk city and
other disputed areas] will not succeed," said
President Barzani at a news conference in Erbil.
"These are the same people who were against the
Iraqi Constitution before, and they couldn't do
anything at that time," he said, adding that Article
140 will remain as long as the Iraqi Constitution
exists.
Observers say U.S. officials advise against removing
al-Maliki from office, and agree that the prime
minister must govern more effectively and
inclusively in the coming months or suffer a
"breakdown." Said one senior U.S. official, "Clearly
there is a sense among the Kurds, Sunnis, and
Shiites that the government isn't doing what it's
supposed to do. It needs to get better quick."
Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Baghdad, met
after Christmas in Kurdistan with Barzani and
Talabani. Crocker's message to the Kurds was that
"we think everyone should be placing emphasis on
making the government more effective, not on
changing the government."
The anti-Maliki forces would like to replace him
with Adel Abdul Mahdi, who is also from the Shiite
bloc and one of Iraq's vice presidents. He is a
leader of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, headed
by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim.
The biggest obstacle in removing al-Maliki is Shiite
religious leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who is
said to be frustrated with al-Maliki's poor
performance but wary of dividing the Shiite
alliance. "Najaf [Sistani's headquarters] is
unhappy," said a top Iraqi leader. But the senior
U.S. official said he was "certain" that Sistani had
not yet blessed any change of government.
Though Bush administration officials share Iraqi
frustration with al-Maliki, they fear that a change
of regime would add delay and distrust to the
already chaotic political scene in Baghdad. "How
long would such a transition take? How long before
they would form a new government?" worried a second
senior U.S. official.
Rather than dumping al-Maliki, the administration
hopes to work around him by operating through a
coalition known as the "three plus one." In addition
to al-Maliki,www.ekurd.net
that group includes
Talabani and vice presidents Mahdi and al-Hashimi.
"Our message to al-Maliki is that you can't govern
solo. You have to govern as part of a group," said
the second senior U.S. official.
The question is in what measure al-Maliki's
government will become more effective in 2008 and
confront the sectarian system while he is backing
the formation of a coalition without Kurds?
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