Report: These are the candidates competing for Abadi as prime minister

Report: These are the candidates competing for Abadi as prime minister

The wheel of political negotiations goes back ...

30/07/2018 - 11:05



BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two rival factions within the ruling Islamic Dawa party in Iraq are struggling to interpret the speech of the top Shiite religious authority, Ali al-Sistani, on the "specifications of the next prime minister" The political class, mismanagement of the country, lack of basic services and widespread unemployment.

Sistani, who has the support of millions of Shiites in Iraq, announced through his representative, Friday, what was described as "a road map to form a new Iraqi government," while referring to a set of specifications must be available to the candidate for the formation of this government, including "strong, courageous and firm "He said.

The team loyal to Prime Minister Haider Abadi within the Dawa Party, that "the specifications set by the reference, on the next prime minister apply to all Abadi."

This group says that the conditions of "firmness, courage and strength are available in Abadi, who led the country to a historic military victory over the organization of Dahesh, who occupied about a third of the land of Iraq in 2014, who stood firm against corrupt and defied the waste of public money."

But supporters of the wing of Nuri al-Maliki, the most powerful within the Dawa Party now, see that "the religious authority in Najaf hinted that the new prime minister should be from outside the figures who took over this responsibility previously, including Abadi."

Sami al-Askari, Maliki's private adviser, said the reference letter referred to "the survival of the current government and the implementation of the demands of the demonstrators," but also pointed out that "the next prime minister is not one of those who took the site previously."

The letter of reference moved the wheel of stagnant negotiations about two weeks ago because of the government's preoccupation with widespread popular protests in nine provinces of Iraq against the corruption of the political class and mismanagement of the country and the lack of basic services and rampant unemployment.

 The newspaper "Arab" political sources in Baghdad, "Most of the political parties have renewed their internal consultations, and re-assigned negotiators feel the pulse of other parties."

Observers expect that the results of the May general elections will be ratified soon, after controversy over its integrity took a long time and impose the counting and hand counting of part of the votes, allowing the new parliament the opportunity to hold its first meeting next month or early next month at the latest, Where he will announce the candidate to form a new government.

With the return of the wheel of negotiations to spin, political sources say that "parties within the Shiite political house, put the name of Tareq Najm to be a candidate for rival to Abadi to the post of prime minister in the new government."

He is one of the most prominent "shadow leaders" in the ruling Dawa party. He previously served as the director of Maliki's office in his first cabinet with broad powers, which were said to be identical to the prime minister's powers.

Proponents of Maliki have been promoting a star with Cordy's approval, while Washington and Tehran would not mind taking office because of good relations with the two capitals, estimates underestimated by observers.

He had previously refused to take over the post of prime minister in 2014 because of Maliki's desire to secure a third term, which opened the way for Abadi to fill the post.

In addition to Najm, Shi'ite parties are naming the national security adviser and head of the popular rally, Falih al-Fayadh, to become prime minister. Veteran politician Adel Abdul Mahdi has returned to the map of expectations again with fewer chances.

A source in the Consultative Council of the "Dawa" party, revealed to (Basneoz) earlier this month, the party's adherence to the post of prime minister and the nomination of a personal figure before him.

"The question of a personal nomination for the post of prime minister has been decided in favor of a candidate from the party," the source told Basnews, adding that "this matter was resolved by the members of the party's Shura Council."

The source, who preferred not to be named, said that «there was an agreement between Haider

Abadi and Nuri al-Maliki, on the unification of the ranks of the Dawa Party in order to get the party's candidate for prime minister », refusing to disclose the name of the candidate in the field.

While leading a , has revealed to (Basneoz), the existence of a near agreement within the party to nominate Tarek Najm for prime minister in the new government, and confirmed that the star has "Iranian-American satisfaction."

The leader, who preferred not to be named, told (Basneoz): "According to the data, the next prime minister will not be Haider Abadi or Hadi Amiri," indicating that «Tarek Najm is so far the most fortunate, the Shura Council in the call supports and supports the nomination of Tarek Star of prime minister. "

He said that «Tarek Najm was the favorite candidate for prime minister from Haider Abadi four years ago, but the star did not compete with Abadi and decided not to engage with him in a personal conflict, so withdrew his candidacy in the last period», according to the leader.

However, Abadi remains the only candidate publicly, but his chances are gradually declining, especially after Najaf's reference to the protesters' demands and urging the government involved in their repression to listen to their voices, along with leaks of potential splits in the prime minister's victory list.

According to political sources in Baghdad, "the Virtue Party, which won 9 seats, may emerge from the list of victory led by Abadi, which has 42 seats according to the results of the elections are not final."

The Virtue Party is within the circle of Iranian influence in Iraq, so it was surprising from the outset participation in the elections in the list of victory led by Abadi, which is close to the US influence in Iraq.

If this information is accurate, the split of virtue from victory will not be the last to hit the list of slaves, and may even pave the way for many splits.

The Prime Minister is trying to remedy the great decline in popularity by exceptional procedures, during the short time remaining in office, after his government failed in the service portfolio and insisted on confronting the protesters with excessive force, causing the death and injury of many.

Abadi decided to withdraw the hand of the Minister of Electricity Qassem Al-Fahdawi and open an urgent investigation against him against the background of the great deterioration in the energy sector, in the form of a high committee headed by the Prime Minister and the membership of a number of ministers and senior officials in various institutions, directly oversee the file services and reconstruction.

"Abadi may resort to similar measures with other ministers, hoping to absorb the anger and resentment of the protesters, who received a strong boost, Friday, when the Najaf reference adopted their demands," the sources said.

Observers described Abadi's action against the electricity minister as "an attempt to offer a scapegoat, hoping to restore his affected popularity."

The bloggers received the Iraqi social networking sites the news of the withdrawal of the Minister of Electricity with a lot of irony, wondering why the patience until the end of the life of the government, although the deterioration of the electricity sector continues for 4 years.

http://www.basnews.com/index.php/ar/reports/455502