Friday, March 09, 2007
Allawi outlines plans should he gain majority
Politics
(AINA) Ayad Allawi's newly formed Iraqi National Front (INF) seeks to challenge Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and force him to purge Shiite militias from police and government. Allawi, a secular Shiite, was Iraq's interim prime minister in 2004-05. The bloc is a minority in parliament but aspires to overrule al-Maliki on several key issues, Allawi said in an interview with USA TODAY. The two largest Sunni groups in Iraq's parliament joined Allawi's coalition this week. A leading Kurdish politician and some moderate Shiites also have shown interest.
"We cannot see national reconciliation and national unity … thriving in a state of chaos and institutions riddled with militias," Allawi said Tuesday. "We feel our country has really been taken apart." Al-Maliki's ruling coalition includes lawmakers loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric who runs the Mahdi Army militia. The prime minister has given U.S. and Iraqi troops permission to crack down on the Mahdi Army in recent weeks under the new Baghdad security plan, but Allawi voiced frustration with the pace of change.
Allawi said that if he can form a legislative majority, he plans to:
"We cannot see national reconciliation and national unity … thriving in a state of chaos and institutions riddled with militias," Allawi said Tuesday. "We feel our country has really been taken apart." Al-Maliki's ruling coalition includes lawmakers loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric who runs the Mahdi Army militia. The prime minister has given U.S. and Iraqi troops permission to crack down on the Mahdi Army in recent weeks under the new Baghdad security plan, but Allawi voiced frustration with the pace of change.
Allawi said that if he can form a legislative majority, he plans to:
- Replace police under control of the Interior Ministry with Iraqi army troops until the ministry can be thoroughly investigated and purged of militia loyalists.
Impose two years of martial law with rigorously enforced curfews and added checkpoints.
Remove a ban that keeps former members of the Baath Party, which ruled Iraq under Saddam Hussein, from holding government jobs.
While prime minister, Allawi ordered Iraqi security forces into large-scale attacks against the Mahdi Army in Najaf and Sunni militants in Fallujah. Allawi's coalition, then known as the Iraqi List, placed a distant third in the elections in January 2005. Allawi said he does not want to force a change in government. "What we're doing, from within the parliament, is to create a group that … will put pressure on the government … to move the country toward peace and stability," he said.
To pose a major challenge, Allawi probably would need the support of Kurdish parties that support al-Maliki. The Kurds, who account for about 50 seats in the 275-member parliament, are waiting to see whether Allawi can build support, said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker. "If we see his front is making change and is really better than what's happening now, of course the Kurds will go for it," Othman said. He said the Kurds have good relations with the Shiite bloc but have more in common with Allawi's secular philosophy.
Wednesday, the Al-Fadhila Party, a moderate Shiite group, broke ranks with the ruling Shiite coalition, but it stopped short of pledging loyalty to Allawi. Sami Alaskary, a Shiite lawmaker, said he was not concerned about the potential challenge until recently, when Allawi traveled to Kurdistan alongside Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador, to meet with Kurdish leaders.
Labels: al-Maliki, government, INF, Iraqi National Front, Iyad Allawi
