... And Adel makes three
Iraqi political chameleon Adel Abdul-Mahdi today joined his UIA colleagues Qasem Daoud and Jalaleddine al-Saghir in calling openly on Ibrahim Jaafari to withdraw his candidacy for the PM post.
So that makes three of the UIA's 128 National Assembly members who have thus far succumbed to intense US/UK arm-twisting to come out openly against Jaafari.
It is now 51 days since Jaafari was nominated, Feb. 12. At this rate-- one open UIA defection won every 17 days-- it will take the US/UK outside agitators "only" a total of 1,105 days to win the open defections of the 65 UIA members required to overturn the Jaafari nomination.
And 51 of those days have already passed... So "only" a further 1,056 days will be required for Washington to win its goal of having a compliant PM nominated by the UIA.
Why, that's less than three years! Surely the Iraqi people can see what's good for them and wait those further years before they get a government?? (Very heavy irony alert there.)
... Yes, of course I realize that Jaafari only originally won his February nomination by a margin of one vote. But that's not the point here. The UIA people who are speaking out openly now against his nomination are doing so expressly against the wishes of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, whose few recent declarations on Iraqi political matters have all stressed the supreme need for his followers to maintain their political unity. That is why we haven't seen a cascade of 63 UIA parliamentarians (those who voted against the Jaafari nomination back in February) all now streaming into the openly anti-Jaafari camp.
Once again, it seems to me, there is something about Ayatollah Sistani that the Americans just don't get.
(And let's face it, getting Adel Abdul-Mahdi to come out openly against Jaafari probably wasn't terrifically difficult, since he has consistently been described by US officials as the person whom they would like to see in the PM post.)
Helena,
Iraqi political chameleon Adel Abdul-Mahdi today joined
Yes, after he got a "Good Muscle Injection" by Dr. Rice/Straw Visit!!!!
As I said they a team surgeon of Dr Lead by Dr Rice and Jack Straw went to Baghdad to do a big operation for the sick democracy which is in on one leg in Baghdad, under intensive care....
"Iraqi political chameleon Adel Abdul-Mahdi today joined his UIA colleagues Qasem Daoud and Jalaleddine al-Saghir in calling openly on Ibrahim Jaafari to withdraw his candidacy for the PM post."
Gee, I wonder why these three guys in particular are calling for Ja`fari to withdraw, particularly at this time. Hmmmmmmm. Let me think. Could it be...is it possible...nahhhhh! No way!
Anyone willing to prognosticate on how this will all turn out?
Where's Sadr at in all these machinations? Is this the beginning of the end of the UIA and a new coalition of SCIRI, Kurds and some Sunni parties?
Will the US now really go after Sadr having missed their chance in Najaf?
So what happend?
12. Feb.: Jaafari was nominated with the backing of Muqtada Sadr. One part of their deal is the demand for a timetable for the departure of the US-forces. Sadr is one of the few iraqi politicans with a real political base, a reputation as a staunch iraqi nationalist and opponent of the occupation and has good connections with the 'sunni' resistance.
22. Feb.: Askariya Shrine Bombing, which is followed by an outburst of violence. Iraq is said to be at the brink of civil war. Who is said to be responsible for the attacks on sunni mosques? The Sadr movement. If true it would have destroyed Sadrs reputation as an iraqi nationalist, minimized his political outreach and seriously weakend the political base of Jaafari.
26. March: raid on a Sadrist complex in Baghdad which left many people dead. An US spokesperson says later that the raid was intended to send Sadr a message. The new theme is now 'tame the miltias'. If the sadrist had fought back they would be now in a full-grown war with the US forces and the political base of Jaafari would be seriously weakend.
1. April: Now the defections begin.
So the sadrist movement is the center of action. The attacks against them get weaker and weaker each time. Until now we have a stalemate, but the situation is still fluid.
Could this have been the watershed of the occupation or have I gotten something wrong?
"You can't pick and choose to support only the Democracies that agree with George Bush.
"Brirtish Foreign Secretary Mr. Selwyn Lloyd, mentions his last perosnal encounter with Nuri as-Said, one day in 1958. (If I remember correctly, this encounter took place in Baghdad Airport). According to Mr. Lloyd, the discussions revolved around Britain's varications towards its then staunchest ally in the Middle East, Iraq, especially regarding Britain's long-promised increase in its political and military support for Iraq in general and for the government of Nuri as-Said in particular. During this said meeting, becoming apaprently impatient with what he perceived to be Mr. Lloyd's unsatisfacory responses, Nuri as-Said is repoeted by Mr. Lloyd to have lost his temper, angrily banging his fist on the table. Mr. as-Said is suppsoed to have told Mr. Lloyd that neither he nor the Iraqi people can any longer afford to tolerate all of these undue delay and vascillations on the part of the British. Upon his return to the UK, Mr. Lloyd commented to his peers/superiors: "The man is gone senile, and has got to go!"
" Under the constitution, however, parliament must first elect a new president and two vice presidents by two-thirds vote. With Talabani's term also ending, it is unclear whether he would have the authority to appoint a prime minister, and the Shiites could block his re-election.
Because of those legal uncertainties, several Shiite officials said they were reluctant to take the issue to parliament. One described the current standoff as a crisis and said "nobody sees a way out." They all spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. "
http://www.forbes.com/technology/ebusiness/feeds/ap/2006/04/05/ap2648170.html
Article 58:
Eighth:
B.
1- The President of the Republic may submit a request to the Council of Representatives to withdraw confidence from the Prime Minister.
2- The Council of Representatives may withdraw confidence from the Prime Minister based on the request of one-fifth (1/5) of its members. This request may be submitted only after a question has been put to the Prime Minister and after at least seven days from submitting the request.
SECOND: Council of Ministers
Article 73:
First: The President of the Republic shall name the nominee of the Council of Representatives bloc with the largest number to form the Cabinet within fifteen days from the date of the election of the president of the republic.
Second: The Prime Minister-designate shall undertake the naming of the members of his Cabinet within a period not to exceed thirty days from the date of his designation.
Third: In case the Prime Minister-designate fails to form the cabinet during the period specified in clause "Second," the President of the Republic shall name a new nominee for the post of Prime Minister within fifteen days.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101201450.html
QUESTION: Hi. Joanna -- (off mike) -- Financial Times. Just following up on an earlier
question, what role do you imagine you'll play in your government? And what do you think
the future Iraqi government will look like?
MINISTER AL-MAHDI: Well, we have to await elections to see what role we can -- (soft
laughter) -- otherwise --
QUESTION: Well, what -- (off mike) -- imagine you will play?
MINISTER AL-MAHDI: Well, I don't know. We have to see the result of elections to decide
what role we can play. Otherwise, we'll be accused of false elections.
QUESTION: Do you have any idea what structure the future government would look at?
MINISTER AL-MAHDI: Well, I don't think it will look far from the actual current.
The main forces really there in elections are the forces who fought the ex-regime, who
participated in the political process from the beginning. So maybe there will be a certain
shift in weight and numbers, but the whole current, for me it might seem more or less similar
of what we have today.