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Iraq
Iraqi President Barham Salih instructs newly appointed Prime Minister Mohammed Allawi in Baghdad on February 1 2020. Photo: Iraqi Presidency Media Office/AP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- Iraq’s newly designated Prime Minister Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi may have a hard time implementing his pledge to form a cabinet devoid of partisanship due to pressure from political factions in parliament.
On Saturday, Iraqi President Barham Salih designated Allawi, former Minister of Communication, as Iraq’s next Prime Minister, much to the ire of protesters who have been on the streets since October.
He now has until the end of the month to form a cabinet.
In a televised speech after his appointment, Allawi pledged to form a non-partisan, cross-sectarian cabinet devoid of party influences, a departure from previous administrations.
Some members of parliament remain doubtful that this will be achieved.
“It is unfortunate that Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi has given promises to some political parties to keep their ministers [in the current cabinet], known for their corruption, and renew their term,” Aliya Nusayif, an MP in the Iran-backed State of Law Coalition, said in a Tuesday statement.
Al-Nusayif accused Allawi of “rebelling” against the will of the parliament and the people.
Mansour al-Beiji, another State of Law Coalition MP, urged Allawi to not budge to pressure from political parties.
“The Prime Minister should not bow to any pressure that might be exercised on him to impose partisan figures to head any ministry in his upcoming government, and he [should] choose independent technocratic figures so that he succeeds in the upcoming phase,” al-Beiji said in a Wednesday statement.
Allawi has to “keep his promises” to the people to achieve stability until early elections, al-Beiji asserted. The MP further threatened that Allawi will be “strongly held to account if he fails.”
More than 600 protesters have been killed since protests began on October 1. Protesters are demanding an overhaul of the electoral system, governance, constitution, and the removal of the political elite that has dominated Baghdad since 2003.
Demonstrators were able to force current caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to resign in late 2019, but attempts to assign a replacement were marred by political in-fighting and the rejection of suggested candidates.
Iraqi President Barham Salih threatened to resign in December amid ongoing pressure to nominate foreign-backed candidates. Perceived foreign influence in Iraq, particularly on behalf of Iran, has rallied protesters to the streets to decry external interference in their country.
Caretaker PM Abdul-Mahdi met with Jeanine Hennis-Plaschaert, head of UN’s Iraq Mission, to discuss “the tasking of the Prime Minister to form a new government, ways of supporting him, facilitating his task and working on making it succeed, and to prepare for the handing over process”, a statement read.
Although protesters have voiced their preference for an independent candidate, ultimately Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and the Iran-backed Hadi al-Amiri, who both head the two largest blocs in parliament, chose Allawi.
Speaking to Rudaw, Kurdish parties insisted that Kurds need to be ensured a voice in the new cabinet.
Iraq’s post-2003 system put in place an informal confessional system in which positions are divided along ethnic and sectarian lines. Kurds currently hold three cabinet positions: Minister of Finance, Minister of Justice and Minister of Housing and Construction.
Kurdish MPs in Baghdad have said that the case for representation unites Kurdish parties in parliament despite political rivalry.
“Without a doubt, we as the Kurdish component, have to be given our entitlement in the new government. If the new government is formed, the agreements and understandings reached at the end of 2019 between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Federal Government continue,” Viyan Sabri, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) Iraqi parliament faction, told Rudaw, referring to the oil-for-budget deal between the two governments.
“I don’t believe that the PUK and KDP have a problem with the type of the ministries…generally Kurds haven’t been a big problem in the Iraqi [political] equation,” Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) spokesperson Dr Miran Mohammed told Rudaw.
Khalid Shwani, Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Minister for Federal Affairs, speaking to Rudaw TV on Tuesday, stood by the idea that Kurds should not bow to the idea of sending independent candidates to the new government.
"I don't think Kurds should accept the rule to nominate independents. I’m not saying Kurds don't have independents, but a lot of times in Baghdad, if a big party doesn't support you, then it might be easier for a technocrat to get blackmailed," Shwani said.
“On the outside, the individual might seem independent, but beneath, they are tied to party agendas," she added.
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