Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Cabinet reshuffle to improve performance
Politics
(Reuters) - Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will shrink his cabinet to improve government performance amid frustration at its failure to deliver on security and political reform, a top aide said on Wednesday. "It has been agreed to have a total cabinet reshuffle by reducing the number of ministries from 36, to 20 or 22 ministries," Sami al-Askari, a Shi'ite member of parliament and senior Maliki adviser, said on state Iraqiya television.
He gave no indication of when the changes would be made or if the various political blocs in government had agreed. Maliki has said for months he wanted a reshuffle to cull inefficient ministers and bring in more technocrats. On Tuesday, he acknowledged the government's performance had been poor.
Repeating his intention to make cabinet changes, Maliki said the decision for a reshuffle "came as a response to the weakness of the performance of this government, which is based on sectarian lines". "The prime minister must have the complete right to select his ministries. At that point, the prime minister can be held accountable for his choices," Maliki said.
Cabinet posts reflect a quota system largely based on seats held in parliament by the Shi'ite majority, minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds. This has made many ministers more loyal to their political and sectarian blocs than Maliki.
Six ministers from the main Sunni bloc, the Accordance Front, have been boycotting cabinet since last week in anger over legal moves against one of their colleagues. Six others from a Shi'ite bloc loyal of fiery anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr suspended their membership last month in protest at the bombing of a revered Shi'ite shrine in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad.
He gave no indication of when the changes would be made or if the various political blocs in government had agreed. Maliki has said for months he wanted a reshuffle to cull inefficient ministers and bring in more technocrats. On Tuesday, he acknowledged the government's performance had been poor.
Repeating his intention to make cabinet changes, Maliki said the decision for a reshuffle "came as a response to the weakness of the performance of this government, which is based on sectarian lines". "The prime minister must have the complete right to select his ministries. At that point, the prime minister can be held accountable for his choices," Maliki said.
Cabinet posts reflect a quota system largely based on seats held in parliament by the Shi'ite majority, minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds. This has made many ministers more loyal to their political and sectarian blocs than Maliki.
Six ministers from the main Sunni bloc, the Accordance Front, have been boycotting cabinet since last week in anger over legal moves against one of their colleagues. Six others from a Shi'ite bloc loyal of fiery anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr suspended their membership last month in protest at the bombing of a revered Shi'ite shrine in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad.
Labels: cabinet, Nouri Al-Maliki, Sami al-Askari
Friday, April 20, 2007
Islamic State of Iraq announces establishment of cabinet
Insurgency
(SITE) - The Islamic State of Iraq announced in a 5:10 minute produced and issued to jihadist forums on Thursday, April 19, 2007, by its al-Furqan Foundation for Media Production, the establishment of the cabinet of the “first Islamic administration”. An individual indicated to be the official spokesman for the Islamic State sits at a desk with his face blurred, naming the ten Ministers in the group’s “cabinet” beneath the emir, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi:
Sheikh Abu Abdul Rahman al-Falahi as First Minister for the Emir of the Believers
Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, Minister of War
Professor Sheikh Abu Uthman al-Tamimi, Minster of Shari’ah Affairs
Professor Abu Bakr al-Jabouri, Minister of Public Relations
Professor Abu Abdul Jabar al-Janabi, Minister of Security
Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Mashadani, Minister of Information
Professor Abu Khadr al-Eissawi, Minister of Martyrs and Prisoners Affairs
Engineer Abu Ahmed al-Janabi, Minister of Oil
Professor Mustafa al-A’araji, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
Professor Dr. Abu Abdullah al-Zabadi, Minister of Health
From prior communications from the Islamic State of Iraq and its Emir, the group portrays itself as functioning as a state and governing body, possessing means of taxation and jurisprudence, the Mujahideen acting as arbiters, and providing security to Muslims. This latest propaganda of naming ministers is another step within these actions. The announcement unveiling an "Islamic Cabinet" for Iraq appeared to have multiple aims. One was to present the Islamic State of Iraq coalition as a "legitimate" alternative to the U.S.-backed, Shiite-led administration of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and to demonstrate that it was growing in power despite the U.S. military push against insurgents.
It also likely sought to establish the coalition's dominance among insurgents after an embarrassing public dispute with other Iraqi Sunni militants. The Islamic State of Iraq is a coalition of eight insurgent groups, the most powerful of them al-Qaida in Iraq. It was first announced in October, claiming to hold territory in the Sunni-dominated areas of western and central Iraq.
Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, the "war minister" is the name announced as the successor of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq who was killed in the summer of 2006. The U.S. military and Iraqi government have identified him by another pseudonym, Abu Ayyub al-Masri. The names listed by the spokesman were all pseudonyms and their real names were not known, though the pseudonyms included the names of some major Sunni Arab tribes. The video came on the heels of a rare public dispute between the coalition and other insurgent groups.
Sheikh Abu Abdul Rahman al-Falahi as First Minister for the Emir of the Believers
Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, Minister of War
Professor Sheikh Abu Uthman al-Tamimi, Minster of Shari’ah Affairs
Professor Abu Bakr al-Jabouri, Minister of Public Relations
Professor Abu Abdul Jabar al-Janabi, Minister of Security
Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Mashadani, Minister of Information
Professor Abu Khadr al-Eissawi, Minister of Martyrs and Prisoners Affairs
Engineer Abu Ahmed al-Janabi, Minister of Oil
Professor Mustafa al-A’araji, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
Professor Dr. Abu Abdullah al-Zabadi, Minister of Health
From prior communications from the Islamic State of Iraq and its Emir, the group portrays itself as functioning as a state and governing body, possessing means of taxation and jurisprudence, the Mujahideen acting as arbiters, and providing security to Muslims. This latest propaganda of naming ministers is another step within these actions. The announcement unveiling an "Islamic Cabinet" for Iraq appeared to have multiple aims. One was to present the Islamic State of Iraq coalition as a "legitimate" alternative to the U.S.-backed, Shiite-led administration of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and to demonstrate that it was growing in power despite the U.S. military push against insurgents.
It also likely sought to establish the coalition's dominance among insurgents after an embarrassing public dispute with other Iraqi Sunni militants. The Islamic State of Iraq is a coalition of eight insurgent groups, the most powerful of them al-Qaida in Iraq. It was first announced in October, claiming to hold territory in the Sunni-dominated areas of western and central Iraq.
Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, the "war minister" is the name announced as the successor of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq who was killed in the summer of 2006. The U.S. military and Iraqi government have identified him by another pseudonym, Abu Ayyub al-Masri. The names listed by the spokesman were all pseudonyms and their real names were not known, though the pseudonyms included the names of some major Sunni Arab tribes. The video came on the heels of a rare public dispute between the coalition and other insurgent groups.
Labels: Abu Ayyub al-Masri, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, cabinet, first Islamic administration, Islamic State of Iraq
