Big Trouble In Little America

Sounds like the Maliki government is on the verge of collapse.

A broad range of prominent Iraqi lawmakers say they have lost confidence in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s ability to reconcile the country’s warring factions. A leading Kurdish lawmaker said al-Maliki should resign.

Legislators from several parties told USA TODAY that al-Maliki lacks the support in parliament to push through laws, such as a plan to distribute oil revenues, that could reduce tensions between Sunnis and Shiites. Iraq’s parliament has failed to pass major legislation since a U.S.-led security plan began on Feb. 14.

“He is a weak prime minister,” said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish legislator who supported al-Maliki until recently. “This government hasn’t delivered and is not capable of doing the job. They should resign.”

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“The present government is not competent,” said Dawood, a Shiite legislator. “It’s more or less paralyzed, inactive. I doubt very much that this government can continue in power much longer.”

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Pending constitutional amendments on issues such as tax revenue sharing have stalled, said Ayad al-Samarrai, deputy chairman of the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni group. He said al-Maliki’s poor reputation among Sunnis was partly to blame. “We don’t see any progress” on sectarian reconciliation, al-Samarrai said.

Six Cabinet ministers loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American Shiite cleric whose support was crucial in naming al-Maliki as prime minister, resigned this month.

“(Al-Maliki) must do something to make this government stronger,” said Bahaa al-Araji, a lawmaker loyal to al-Sadr. “If not, this government will expire within a few weeks.”

3 thoughts on “Big Trouble In Little America

  1. Dammit Holden, you need to concentrate on the good news from Iraq. Nine more US servicemen were not killed by a car bomb today. How did you miss that bit of good news? And, unless I am mistaken, no US helicopters were shot down, no mosques were bombed by Americans, and two school houses were painted. There is definitely good news today!!

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