In a longer-than-usual press conference on Tuesday evening, the PM dedicated the majority of his 18-minute remarks to setting the record straight on his seven months in office.
Last Friday, Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most influential Shiite religious authority, expressed dissatisfaction with the current government. The Hikma Front meanwhile announced it is officially moving into parliamentary opposition.
Turning up the heat further, Muqtada al-Sadr, head of the parliament’s biggest bloc and widely considered the kingmaker of Iraqi politics, threatened to withdraw his backing for the PM if he failed to immediately fill the vacant seats in his cabinet.
“We listened with utmost seriousness to the directions the Supreme Religious Marja in last Friday’s sermon. It was an important sermon, and accurate in diagnosing reality,” the PM acknowledged.
However, the sermon was not only aimed at him, Abdul-Mahdi said, arguing responsibility for the ongoing cabinet crisis lay with the government, parliament, and parties.
“We have concluded work on a report outlining what has been achieved [by the government] since the period from the formation of the government up to the end of June,” he said.
The findings will be made available to the public.
“The report is complete and done. It outlines the completion rate of every project, ministry, what the completed projects are and so on,” the PM added.
The report will assist with “oversight” so the government is judged based on its ministerial program, which is running on schedule, the PM claimed.
The PM has come under fire for his failure to fill ministerial posts at the Ministries of Justice, Defense, and Interior. Rival parties have wrangled for months over candidates for the top ranking positions.
“There is a limited time. [During that], we will wait for political parties to present candidates. If no candidates are put forth, then the Prime Minister will present his own candidates to the parliament for a vote,” Abdul-Mahdi said.
The PM claimed there are also more than 1,000 vacant positions for director generals and heads of independent commissions.
He argued there needs to be a “yard stick” to properly measure the performance of the government rather than spontaneous evaluations.
“I am very optimistic and see that the country, despite all the difficulties in front of it, is leaping forward,” he said.
Responding to the Hikma Front’s move into opposition, Abdul-Mahdi said he had always welcomed to need for a “constitutional opposition”. But this opposition must be “positive” and not destructive, the he added.
Abdul-Mahdi has also faced criticism for the lackluster progress made on fixing Iraq’s ramshackle electrical grid, which is prone to daily blackouts.
“Funds have been allocated to buy energy and gas and the repaying of debts in this field,” the PM said.
“Without a doubt, we have achieved very important progress in the sector of [electricity] production,” he insisted.
“We are trying to finds temporary and permanent solutions.”
This is the first time Abdul-Mahdi has publicly responded to his critics.
MPs from Sadr’s Sayirun bloc have said they will summon the PM to appear before parliament to answer for the slow rate of progress and vacant ministries.
In Baghdad’s cut-throat political environment, there are certainly figures who hope to capitalize on the PM’s woes. It’s an open secret in the corridors of power that former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has set his eyes on a second term.
