Power-sharing behind Iraqi crisis

Iraq's Deputy PM Saleh al-Mutlaq Baghdad - Jaafar Al Nasrawi The fact that several parties share power in Iraq is the reason for the country’s failure to overcome its current political crisis, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister has said. In an interview with Arab Today on Saturday, Deputy PM Saleh al-Mutlaq said the different blocs and parties making up the ruling coalition were putting their own interests before the interests of the country, posing a challenge to political process. Iraq is in the throes of a serious political and security crisis, with the government paralysed by political in-fighting, and failing to provide basic services. This year has also seen a spike in violence in the country and the spread of protests by Sunnis who accused the Shiite-led government of marginalising them. Around 1000 people were killed in bombings and other violence in July, Iraq’s deadliest month for five years. Mutlaq, who was expelled from the Baath party in 1977 and now heads the National Dialogue Front, praised the Sunni demonstrations, but said they were being hijacked by Islamic parties that were using the protests to achieve electoral gains. The Iraqi official blamed al-Qaeda for some of the recent violence, saying the extremist organization had penetrated Iraq's security authorities. This, Mutlaq said, was what enabled the prison attacks three weeks ago that freed hundreds of prisoners and left over 40 dead. Security violations were to blame more generally for the numerous terrorist attacks the country has suffered in recent times, he added, saying the attacks served political agendas. The weakness of the security forces was also to blame for consecutive attacks against Sunni-majority areas, the party leader said. But he added that he did not believe the al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq would succeed. He called on Iraqi political parties to unify against al-Qaeda, emphasizing the need for a serious national project to rally Iraqi people against terrorism. Mutlaq blamed what he described as the corruption of the Iraqi judiciary for the absence of accountability in Iraq, accusing investigating authorities of fabricating accusations to serve political interests. Additional source: AFP