Political deadlock in Iraq stalls choice of new premier

Two blocs of political parties, one backed by Iran and the other populist and anti-Iranian, are closely involved in backroom deals to agree on a candidate for prime minister.

BAGHDAD - Iraqi lawmakers said on Thursday that deadlock in parliament was holding up the selection of an interim prime minister, meaning leaders would miss a deadline to name a replacement for Adel Abdul Mahdi and prolong nationwide unrest.

More than 450 people, mostly unarmed demonstrators but also some members of the security forces, have been killed since a wave of popular unrest began on Oct. 1. Protesters, most of them young, are demanding an overhaul of a political system they see as profoundly corrupt and keeping most Iraqis in poverty.

The protests have shaken the country out of two years of relative calm following the defeat of Islamic State insurgents.

Infighting between political parties who are clinging onto power has fuelled the crisis and threatens to cause more unrest as protesters lose patience.

Abdul Mahdi resigned as Prime Minister last month under pressure from the streets but has remained in office in a caretaker capacity. The constitutional deadline to name a replacement expires on Thursday.

"Until this moment no candidate has been agreed on by the political parties. We have multiple nominees but their partisan affiliations prevent them from having the job," said Shiite Muslim lawmaker Naeem al-Abboudi.

Two blocs of political parties, one backed by Iran and the other populist and anti-Iranian, are closely involved in backroom deals to agree on a candidate before Salih presents them.

They are wrangling over three candidates: all insiders and all rejected by a months-old anti-government protest movement.

Candidates

Qusay al-Suhail, outgoing higher education minister, has for several weeks been presented by officials as the candidate of Iran.

Iran wields growing clout in Iraq, with its emissary Major General Qasem Soleimani presiding over the negotiations.

A former key member of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr’s movement, Suhail rejoined the State of Law Alliance of former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki — close to Iran and enemy of Sadr — and seems to become the favourite for the premiership.

But the Iraqi political machine can been fickle.

Earlier Wednesday, the front-runner was Mohammed al-Soudani, 49, former minister and ex-governor of a southern province now in the grip of protests and violence.

His demotion is due to his not having been received by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani — longtime kingmaker in Iraqi politics — when he presented himself to be endorsed in Najaf a few days ago, according to sources in the Shia shrine city.

The 89-year-old cleric, the highest religious authority for the majority of Iraqi Shias, had already said — for the first time — that he did not want to be involved in the formation of the new government.

A third candidate is intelligence chief Moustafa al-Kazemi, a shadowy figure seen as backed by the US.

Political wrangling

Adding to the uncertainty, on Wednesday an outspoken liberal lawmaker critical of Iraq’s endemic corruption threw his hat into the ring.

Fayeq al-Sheikh Ali presented his “candidacy to… form a professional and non-partisan government”, in a letter to Saleh which he also shared with his more than 285,000 Twitter followers.

Head of a secular alliance, Sheikh Ali won a parliamentary seat last year after promising to counter Islamists’ efforts to ban alcohol in the country.

He was stripped of his immunity from prosecution in September following accusations he praised Saddam Hussein’s Baath party, despite his long history of opposing Saddam.

But he has already generated enthusiasm in the street and on social media, with protesters saying he would be a sign of change.

“The government only exchanges positions between the same people, as if it was playing a game of chess,” said 23-year-old protester Hussein Ali in Tahrir Square.

“Neither Soudani nor Suhail represnt us. I reject them and so does the whole of Tahrir Square.”

Umm Mohammed, a protester in her 50s, said she was fed up with the political class.

“We have already tested them and we no longer want them,” she said.

“We want a prime minister who comes from the people, someone who is protesting here with us.”

'Differences are everywhere'

President Barham Salih had earlier this week asked the largest bloc in parliament to nominate a new premier to form a government. The two main blocs dispute who has the most seats because this was never made clear in the current parliament, and some lawmakers have frequently switched allegiance.

"Differences are everywhere and it will not be easy to agree soon on a new election law inside parliament," said Hassan Khalati, another Shiite lawmaker.

Lawmakers and politicians said Salih could now delay the nomination to Dec. 22, based on a federal court ruling allowing national holidays to be excluded from the run-up to the constitutional deadline.

That would create breathing space for the political factions to strike a deal, with Abdul Mahdi remaining as caretaker premier until then, legal expert Tareq Harb said.

But any agreement on thorny political issues looks unlikely.

The house failed on Wednesday to pass a new electoral law, a key demand of protesters, which would make elections fairer after each round in recent years has been marred by allegations of fraud.

Protesters demand a new electoral law and committee as well as the removal of the entire political class, and a prime minister with no party affiliation.

If parliament does not approve a candidate who has emerged from inter-party negotiations, then the president has the constitutional right to appoint the premier himself.

“He’s betting on a last-minute intervention,” one political official told AFP news agency.

Another possible twist: no candidate is approved, the post of prime minister will be vacant from Thursday at midnight. Under the constitution, that would place Salih in the post himself.