Interview: Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Future Vision

Interview: Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Future Vision



Friday, April 6

Nobuhisa Degawa

Just months after Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the Islamic State militants, the war-torn country is slowly starting to rebuild. This week, Abadi was in Tokyo to attend an international conference focusing on reconstruction. He spoke to NHK World in an exclusive interview about the challenges that lie ahead and his vision for the future.

For the first time since taking office in 2014, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says his country is stable. But it's not just the 5 million displaced people that need help. He says the entire country needs to be rebuilt, and it will take time: "When the war stops, usually people expect like miracles to happen all of a sudden. That you have to provide all services everywhere. Now, we are managing with our national efforts."

Abadi says while the fight against the Islamic State may be over, it's created a new challenge -- disarming civilians who fought alongside Iraqi forces and incorporating local militias into the state apparatus -- an issue complicated by differing allegiances. "We don't want these fighters, who fought for the country, to feel their fighting and their sacrifice have not been acknowledged," he says.

To do that, he's calling for national unity -- a monumental task for a country that has been plagued by sectarian, religious and ethnic violence. "But as a country, we must be united under one goal: To drive the country forward. Governments must not discriminate between citizens on this," he says.

To sustain the momentum, the Prime Minister says people must be provided with opportunities, especially given the high unemployment rate among youth. But he says low oil prices means the state can no longer be the main employer: "One of the pillars of this government is to support the private sector, to enter into a partnership between the public and the private sector. And we are moving very, very aggressively in this regard."

The prime minister also emphasized the need to establish local autonomy, but says that it must be aligned with the state. When Iraq's Kurdish region voted in favor of independence last year, Abadi said it violated the constitution and deployed troops to the area. "So what we have done, we have met a balance between a federal authority and local authority according to the constitution. And that balance is correct at the moment. So now you don't hear calls of independence or they want to separate from the country. In fact they're all saying that we should work all together within one Iraq. This is our push. This is our goal," he says.

With parliamentary elections set to take place next month, Abadi thinks his time in office has shown voters what to expect. "We are treating citizens the same. We are seeing Iraq the same. We have to provide the services. We have to provide the well-being and prosperity for all our citizens. Regarding Iraq must be united and must be one but not by force but by accepting each other," he says.

During his visit, Abadi reportedly secured over US$300 million in low-interest loans from the Japanese government -- money he hopes will keep his country on the road to recovery.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/editors/1/iraqprimeministerhaideralabadi/index.html