Monday, April 02, 2007
Sistani opposes reinstation of Baathists
Politics
Iraq's top Shiite cleric opposes a draft law that would allow former members of Saddam Hussein's ruling Baath Party to resume government positions, the head of the committee dealing with the Baathists said Sunday. Ahmed Chalabi met with Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani on Sunday in the Shiite holy city of Najaf to discuss the draft law that would allow thousands of former Baath Party members to regain their jobs or grant them pensions if they are denied jobs they once held in the government or military.
The proposal, long demanded by the U.S., is designed to appease Iraq's once-dominant Sunni Arab minority in a bid to blunt the country's insurgency and return members of the minority to the political process. The law would allow those in the feared security and paramilitary forces to resume government positions but would exclude former regime members already charged with or sought for crimes. Chalabi, who runs the Supreme National Commission for de-Baathification, later met three other senior Shiite clerics.
Along with ousting Baathists, Bremer dissolved Iraq's military and security organizations, putting tens of thousands of armed men out of work. Much of the Sunni insurgency that has proven so deadly to U.S. troops is believed to have coalesced around the dismissed military men. Many former Baathists have been reinstated, especially teachers and some military officers, after the U.S. found it had gutted key ministries and the military with no replacement personnel among the Iraqi work force and educated elite.
If al-Sistani and other top clerics in Najaf reject the draft law, it would be nearly impossible to push through parliament because many Shiites, who hold 130 seats in the 275-member assembly, abide by rulings for their spiritual leaders. Some Kurds, who like Shiites were severely oppressed by the Saddam regime, oppose the draft law as well. Shiites and Kurds make about 80 percent of Iraq's 26 million people.
President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, introduced the draft law late last month. It still has to be approved by Cabinet and before it is sent to Parliament. About 1.5 million of Iraq's 27 million people belonged to the Baath party. Most say they joined for professional, not ideological, reasons, because career advancement, university enrollment and specialized medical care depended on party membership during Saddam's rule.
The proposal, long demanded by the U.S., is designed to appease Iraq's once-dominant Sunni Arab minority in a bid to blunt the country's insurgency and return members of the minority to the political process. The law would allow those in the feared security and paramilitary forces to resume government positions but would exclude former regime members already charged with or sought for crimes. Chalabi, who runs the Supreme National Commission for de-Baathification, later met three other senior Shiite clerics.
Along with ousting Baathists, Bremer dissolved Iraq's military and security organizations, putting tens of thousands of armed men out of work. Much of the Sunni insurgency that has proven so deadly to U.S. troops is believed to have coalesced around the dismissed military men. Many former Baathists have been reinstated, especially teachers and some military officers, after the U.S. found it had gutted key ministries and the military with no replacement personnel among the Iraqi work force and educated elite.
If al-Sistani and other top clerics in Najaf reject the draft law, it would be nearly impossible to push through parliament because many Shiites, who hold 130 seats in the 275-member assembly, abide by rulings for their spiritual leaders. Some Kurds, who like Shiites were severely oppressed by the Saddam regime, oppose the draft law as well. Shiites and Kurds make about 80 percent of Iraq's 26 million people.
President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, introduced the draft law late last month. It still has to be approved by Cabinet and before it is sent to Parliament. About 1.5 million of Iraq's 27 million people belonged to the Baath party. Most say they joined for professional, not ideological, reasons, because career advancement, university enrollment and specialized medical care depended on party membership during Saddam's rule.
COMMENT: The Arab Socialist Baath Party was founded in 1947 as a radical, secular Arab nationalist political party. It functioned as a pan-Arab party with branches in different Arab countries (Yemen, Lebanon, Sudan), but was strongest in Syria and Iraq, coming to power in both countries in 1963. In 1966 the Syrian and Iraqi parties split into two rival organizations. Both Baath parties retained the same name, and maintain parallel structures in the Arab world.
The Baath Party came to power in Syria on 8 March 1963 and attained a monopoly of political power later that year. The Baathists ruled Iraq briefly in 1963, and then from July 1968 until 2003. After the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime in the course of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the occupying authorities banned the Iraqi Baath Party on May 16, 2003. The Iraqi party has since then been associated with armed resistance to US, UK and cooperating Iraqi government forces. COMMENT ENDS.
The Baath Party came to power in Syria on 8 March 1963 and attained a monopoly of political power later that year. The Baathists ruled Iraq briefly in 1963, and then from July 1968 until 2003. After the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime in the course of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the occupying authorities banned the Iraqi Baath Party on May 16, 2003. The Iraqi party has since then been associated with armed resistance to US, UK and cooperating Iraqi government forces. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Ahmed Chalabi, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Baathists, Supreme National Commission for de-Baathification
