Monday, March 05, 2007
Cabinet reshuffle could threaten al-Sadr's position
Politics
(Daily Telegraph) A political crisis that could topple the Iraqi government loomed last night as prime minister Nouri al-Maliki said he was preparing a cabinet reshuffle that could place him at loggerheads with a key Shia parliamentary bloc. Promising a reshuffle "within the next fortnight", Mr Maliki presented it as a way of improving government efficiency. But he is coming under intense pressure from the United States to ditch the six government ministers loyal to Moqtada al Sadr, the fiercely anti-American Shia cleric, and create a moderate coalition government bringing together non-violent parties from across Iraq's ethnic divide.
The so-called Mahdi Army Militia, which Sadr controls, is blamed by Washington for stoking sectarian violence around Baghdad and, in the opinion of US diplomats, its leaders should not be part of the government. Yesterday, hundreds of US soldiers entered the Shia stronghold of Sadr City in the first major push into the area since an American-led security sweep began last month around Baghdad. Soldiers conducted house-to-house searches through the densely populated buildings, but met no resistance in a district firmly in the hands of the Mahdi Army, led by Sadr, said Lt Col David Oclander. "The indication that we are getting is a lot of the really bad folks have gone into hiding," he added.
Mr Maliki's political problem is that his coalition only came to power with the backing of Sadr's 30-strong parliamentary group and it is unclear how he would be able to build a new moderate coalition without those key votes. Yesterday Mr Maliki hinted that he would reduce the number of cabinet positions during the reshuffle. Officials later said there were plans to cut the 39 current portfolios to 30.
Al-Sadr also controls 30 of the 275 parliament seats, and his support for al-Maliki has been responsible for the government's reluctance to crack down on the cleric's Mehdi Army militia, blamed for much of the Shiite-Sunni violence of the past year. U.S. officials had been urging al-Maliki to cut his ties to al-Sadr and form a new alliance of mainstream Shiites, moderate Sunnis and Kurds. Al-Maliki had been stalling, presumably at the urging of the powerful Shiite clerical hierarchy that wants to maintain Shiite unity.
The so-called Mahdi Army Militia, which Sadr controls, is blamed by Washington for stoking sectarian violence around Baghdad and, in the opinion of US diplomats, its leaders should not be part of the government. Yesterday, hundreds of US soldiers entered the Shia stronghold of Sadr City in the first major push into the area since an American-led security sweep began last month around Baghdad. Soldiers conducted house-to-house searches through the densely populated buildings, but met no resistance in a district firmly in the hands of the Mahdi Army, led by Sadr, said Lt Col David Oclander. "The indication that we are getting is a lot of the really bad folks have gone into hiding," he added.
Mr Maliki's political problem is that his coalition only came to power with the backing of Sadr's 30-strong parliamentary group and it is unclear how he would be able to build a new moderate coalition without those key votes. Yesterday Mr Maliki hinted that he would reduce the number of cabinet positions during the reshuffle. Officials later said there were plans to cut the 39 current portfolios to 30.
Al-Sadr also controls 30 of the 275 parliament seats, and his support for al-Maliki has been responsible for the government's reluctance to crack down on the cleric's Mehdi Army militia, blamed for much of the Shiite-Sunni violence of the past year. U.S. officials had been urging al-Maliki to cut his ties to al-Sadr and form a new alliance of mainstream Shiites, moderate Sunnis and Kurds. Al-Maliki had been stalling, presumably at the urging of the powerful Shiite clerical hierarchy that wants to maintain Shiite unity.
Labels: al-Maliki, cabinet reshuffle, Moqtada Al-Sadr
