Region | Iraq
Al Maliki on shaky ground
The fate of Nouri Al Maliki's government has been the subject of many Iraqi rumours and possible scenarios.
- By Basil Adas, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 May 11, 2007
- Image Credit: Reuters
- A boy looks through a damaged steel gate after a raid by US forces in Baghdad's Sadr City.
Baghdad: The fate of Nouri Al Maliki's government has been the subject of many Iraqi rumours and possible scenarios.
Rumours differed on whether Al Maliki will continue as the prime minister or leave office. Described by observers, Baghdad is witnessing political momentum towards 'military coup' to overthrow the Shiite coalition government headed by Al Maliki.
In Baghdad, analysts believe coming July will be crucial and decisive and decide Al Maliki and Iraq's fate.
In Shiite circles there are speculations that the Shiite coalition leader Abdul Aziz Al Hakim, if Al Maliki failed in the security and reconciliation, will announce the Shiite autonomy territory in the south and middle of Iraq including nine provinces.
Double-edged sword
Mudhir Al Husaini, a Political researcher at Baghdad University, told Gulf News: "The new security plan for Baghdad, which started three months ago, is a double-edged sword. If Al Maliki succeeds in halting the decadent security situation then he will remain in his office but if he fails to do so then his position is increasingly shaky".
He added: "The Sharm Al Shaikh international covenant conference and the neighbouring countries meeting was considered as Al Maliki's last opportunity to prove his effectiveness in halting sectarian violence or he would lose the support provided by the conferees and have to leave his office".
One name that surfaces while discussing Al Maliki's successor is Eyad Allawi, Iraq's former interim prime minister who is Shiite and more secular than Al Maliki and not deeply tied to Iran. He seeks to exploit the recent prime minister's security and political failure in the light of Americans desire to form an Iraqi emergency government.
Allawi will most probably be the leading candidate for heading the next alternative government, and accordingly he is seeking to gain trust and support from political blocs like Kurds, the Sadr trend, the Fadhila party and some Sunni parties, beside moving towards obtaining vigorous backing of some regional states.
Mohammad Abdul Sahib, a senior official at the Iraqi National Dialogue Ministry, told Gulf News: "We have gone to lengthy rounds in contacting Iraqi opposition armed groups which have their own conditions."
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