Iraq’s rival parties in talks over new PM amid protests
Baghdad, Iraq - Iraq’s rival parties were negotiating the contours of a new government on Monday, after the previous Cabinet was brought down by a twomonth protest movement demanding more deep-rooted change.
After just over a year in power, prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi stepped down last week after a dramatic intervention by top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.
That followed a wave of violence that pushed the protest toll to over
420 dead - the vast majority demonstrators.
Parliament on Sunday formally tasked President Barham Saleh with naming a new candidate, as prescribed by the constitution.
But Iraq’s competing factions typically engage in drawn-out discussions and horse trading before any official decisions are made. Talks over a new prime minister began even before Abdel Mahdi’s formal resignation, a senior political source and a government official said.
“The meetings are ongoing now,” the political source added.
Such discussions produced Abdel Mahdi as a candidate in 2018, but agreeing on a single name is expected to be more difficult this time around.
“They understand it has to be a figure who is widely accepted by the diverse centres of power, not objected to by the marjaiyah (Shiite religious establishment), and not hated by the street,” said Harith Hasan, a fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center.
The candidate would also have to be acceptable to Iraq’s two main allies, arch-rivals Washington and Tehran.
They understand it has to be a figure who is widely accepted by the diverse centres of power
Harith Hasan