Page 6 - DMEA Week 45 2022

DMEA SECURITY & POLICY DMEA

Iraq’s new government

outlines its programme

MIDDLE EAST IRAQ’S parliament recently approved the for- “missing political balance,” as noted by leader
mation of a new government and highlighted of the National Wisdom Movement Ammar
the appointment of Hayan Abdulghani as the al-Hakim, one of the most prominent leaders of
country’s new Oil Minister. the Co-ordination Framework and supporters
The new government has set out its stall with of Sudani.
a 29-page ministerial programme which was But the biggest challenge lies in how to
put to a vote and received more than 250 of 329 amend the electoral law, especially the mecha-
parliamentarians’ approval; yet Prime Minister nisms of agreement on the “distribution of dis-
Mohammed Shia al-Sudani faces many chal- tricts,” “the vote counting mechanism” and “the
lenges and constituencies to move his agenda. Elections Commission,” which were subjects
Mohammed Shia al-Sudani previously of contention in the previous elections, as the
served as the country’s human rights minister Co-ordination Framework accused the previous
as well as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. government of managing the elections in a way
He has vowed to reform the economy, fight cor- that favoured Sadr, whose movement won the
ruption, improve deteriorating public services largest number of seats.
and to combat poverty and unemployment. Sadr currently lacks any parliamentary rep-
In presenting his government’s programme, resentation to take part in the drafting of the
Sudani did not introduce any major change new electoral law, and he rejects any form of
in the general policies drawn by the ministe- “dialogue” with the Co-ordination Framework
rial programme of his predecessor, Mustafa to begin with. If Sudani’s government proceeds
al-Kadhimi. with drafting an election law that would deal a
This is despite the fact that over the past cou- blow to Sadr, then Sadr could be prompted to
ple of months, Sudani harshly criticised al-Ka- return to the streets.
dhimi and his government over policies related
to foreign relations and regional and interna- Double-edged sword
tional co-operation, among other issues. Sudani’s anti-corruption campaign of “build-
Sudani has one advantage in trying to roll ing effective tools to fight corruption within a
out his programme – namely, the broad parlia- maximum period of 90 days from the date of
mentary cover that his government enjoys, as it formation of the government,” as he promised,
is the fruit of the “state administration coalition” is actually a double-edged sword.
formed by the Coordination Framework, which This is everyone’s demand both inside and
is a political alliance between Shiite groups and outside Iraq, and it forces Sudani to engage in
military parties loyal to Iran with about 140 par- very harsh confrontations, some of which might
liamentary seats. be against his own supporters. This raises the
However, it eventually adopted the quota question as to whether Sudani will be ready to
approach among the participating parties, which engage in a confrontation at a time when he has
could end up blocking any major initiatives. to be very cautious toward Sadr and his current
supporters.
Early elections Of note, al-Kadhimi’s government also
The most important point in Sudani’s ministe- focused on the fight against corruption, as it
rial programme is the emphasis on holding early formed a special committee in this regard.
elections within a year and the amendment of While the committee managed to make some
the Parliamentary Elections Law within three progress, it faced great pressure, which led to its
months, thereby conveying a positive message to subsequent dissolution by the judiciary.
the leader of the Sadrist movement, Shiite cleric Sudani’s proposals in terms of creating job
Muqtada al-Sadr, who has withdrawn from the opportunities for the youth may collide with the
political process. complex economic reality and the need, ulti-
In other words, Sudani’s government could mately, for radical reforms in Iraq.
be another short-term government just like the The Iraqi economy is highly dependent on
previous one, which was formed with the sole the state and its financial resources amid very
aim of achieving specific goals, most notably little private sector contribution. Al-Kadhimi’s
holding early parliamentary elections. government had previously adopted an eco-
Accepting Sadr’s demand to hold early elec- nomic reform programme dubbed the “white
tions once again is aimed at reassuring him paper.” It relied on privatisation, foreign invest-
that “there is no intention to exclude him,” and ments, as well as greater state revenues through
on the other, it is aimed at reproducing the taxes and administrative reforms.

Turkey and Libya signed a maritime border agreement in 2019 (Image: MFA.gov.tr)
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