Rival Iraqi factions settle on leader
BAGHDAD — Former communications minister Mohammed Allawi was named prime minister-designate by rival Iraqi factions Saturday after weeks of political deadlock, three officials said.
The choice comes as the country grapples with violent anti-government protests and the constant threat of being ensnared by festering U.S.-Iran tensions.
The selection of Allawi to replace Iraq’s caretaker prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, was the product of many backroom talks over months between rival parties.
On Wednesday, President Barham Salih gave parliamentary blocs three days to select a premier candidate or he would exercise his constitutional powers and choose one himself.
In a prerecorded statement posted online, Allawi called on protesters to continue with their uprising against corruption and said he would quit if the blocs insist on imposing names of ministers.
“If it wasn’t for your sacrifices and courage there wouldn’t have been any change in the country,” he said, addressing anti-government protesters. “I have faith in you and ask you to continue with the protests.”
Allawi was born in Baghdad and served as communications minister first in 2006 and again between 2010 and 2012.
He resigned after a dispute with former Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.
Parliament is expected to put his candidacy to a vote in the next session, after which he has 30 days to form a government and select a cabinet of ministers.
According to the constitution, a replacement for Abdul Mahdi should have been identified 15 days after his resignation in early December. Instead, it has taken rival blocs nearly two months of jockeying to select Allawi as their consensus candidate.
Abdul Mahdi’s rise to power was the product of a provisional alliance between parliament’s two main blocs — Sairoon, led by cleric Muqtada Sadr, and Fatah, which includes leaders associated with the paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces headed by Hadi Ameri.
If prime minister-designate Allawi is elected by parliament, he will have to contend with navigating Iraq through brewing regional tensions between Tehran and Washington. Tensions skyrocketed after a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad’s airport killed top Iranian general Qassem Suleimani and senior Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi Muhandis.