Iraqi PM Offers Plan to Trim Criticized Government

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s Cabinet backed the plan, which still needs parliamentary approval, The Associated Press reported on Monday.  

The plan would effectively push out of government former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, criticized for inflaming sectarian tensions and appointing loyal, less-qualified senior officers to Iraq’s military ahead of ISIL advance last year. While Maliki issued a short statement approving of the proposed plan, he previously criticized Abadi’s rise to power last year and repeatedly has urged the current government to address the country’s corruption and sectarian crises.

Abadi’s seven-point plan would dismantle portions of the top-heavy government created in the wake of the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

It would reduce spending on personal bodyguards for officials and transfer the responsibility to the interior and defense ministries. The plan also calls for the review of all corruption cases by a committee of experts, with fresh trials for officials suspected of wrongdoing.

About a thousand demonstrators gathered Sunday in support of Abadi in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square. Despite near-daily bombings and attacks in Baghdad, the square has been the scene of peaceful protests in recent days over frequent power cuts during an intense heat wave. The mass demonstrations even include Iraq’s Shiite majority, from which the government draws most of its support. That shows the level of anger among Iraqis in a country ranked 170 out of 175 on Transparency International’s 2014 Corruption Index. A 2013 UN report found that half a million Iraqi citizens paid 1.9 million bribes to civil servants over the course of a year, mostly for power and water services.

But the anti-corruption drive received a push two days ago when Iraq’s most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called on Abadi to quickly address internal issues in the government, including corruption. Through his spokesman, Ahmed al-Safi, Sistani said the prime minister must be more “daring and courageous” in his steps to reform the government, urging him to strike “with an iron fist anyone who is tampering with the people’s money.”

That’s similar to the pledge Abadi made Aug. 10, 2014, when he was named premier-elect. ISIL already seized control of a third of Iraq and the US had just begun targeting the extremists with airstrikes.

But despite seizing Tikrit and other areas, the advance of Iraqi forces has waned. Efforts to win back the western cities of Fallujah and Ramadi have stalled. Operations to recapture Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, have been postponed indefinitely. Kurdish forces, meanwhile, have made modest advances in Iraq.

Iraq, with the world’s fifth-largest oil reserves and significant amounts of gas, has struggled to finance its war with ISIL due to lower oil prices and high military spending. The consequences have manifested over Abadi’s year in office, with the fallout ranging from worsening electricity problems to the government’s failure to keep up with payments to the semi-autonomous Kurdish government.

“He had a good six months,” said Sajad Jiyad, a senior researcher at al-Bayan Center for Studies and Planning in Baghdad. “He struck the deal with the [Kurdish Regional Government], got an austerity budget passed within a short amount of time ... took back Tikrit, lifted the curfew from Baghdad, made some changes from the defense and interior ministry, got some guys kicked out.”

“The six months after have been downhill,” Jiyad added. “They lost Ramadi, austerities really started to bite, electricity got worse and worse, oil prices have taken another tumble and people in [oil-rich] Basra are asking, ‘What are we getting out of all of this?’”

While people publicly may support reform, Abadi’s plan noticeably pushes his predecessor, Maliki, out of office, as well as Ayad Allawi, a former member of Saddam’s Baathist government who was named prime minister following the 2003 invasion.

Maliki expressed initial support for the proposed reforms in a brief statement on his website, without addressing losing his own position in power. When Iraqi President Fouad Massoum named Abadi as premier-elect last year, Maliki described it as a “dangerous violation” of the constitution, demanding a third term since his political bloc received the most votes.

While Maliki’s influence has waned, he remains a powerful figure in Iraqi political life, as was evident from the large showing of his own supporters in Tahrir Square Friday, joining in the call for change.