The Pre-Elections Analyses from Iraq 2: The Criticisms Against Prime Minister Maliki

Maliki, who has chosen to enter the elections by himself and not to join a coalition with Shiite parties, is aiming a success similar to 2009 elections. However, interestingly, major groups in Iraq criticize him and do not think that he will show the same success as 2009. Amongst the criticisms that Maliki has been receiving comes the claim that Maliki has applied a systematic pressure on its rivals by using the force of the state. Maliki faces the criticisms that he has used the state institutions, economic power and military structure in order to enforce his own authority and suppress his rivals. Besides, the prime minister who applied the tactics of pressure and reward during the elections is also accused of tricking in the elections, directing the High Election Council according to his own interest and buying off people from other parties.

According to anti-Maliki Shiite parties, Maliki, instead of sharing the power with the other allies in the government, tried to collect at his own hands. The same criticisms are made by Kurdish and Sunni parties. According to the parties that consider the monopolization and centralization of power as dangerous, this situation mat lead a new Ba’athist understanding in the administration by the time. Maliki, who is accused of being “one man”, is also being accused of widening his influence over the security forces.  Besides the Iraqi army that has 600 thousand soldiers, currently, the Special Forces is under the authorization of the prime minister that is composed of 300-400 thousand police forces and approximately 5 thousand specially trained forces. In addition, his hand has been strengthened when Sahwa forces that are composed of Shiite tribes were included to the security forces. Therefore a million soldiers under the authority of Maliki is an issue of concern during those times that Iraq is approaching the elections. It is known that Maliki attributes special importance to the police forces in order to provide “loyalty” of the army and to prevent any possible coups. Iraqi police is carrying out activities in a wide area ranging from the protection of country borders to military activities in the disputed areas. According to the anti-Maliki groups Maliki does not hesitate to use those military units for his own interests in the domain of domestic politics. For instance, he applied a blockade to the city of Sadr in which the Sadr movement has the most power by moving together with the army and police and prevented the people to go to the ballots. According to the spokesmen of the Sadr, only %17 of the constituents could vote and %10 of them voted for Maliki.  One must not exclude the fact that the Sadr City has a population of 2-2.5 million. Besides, it is claimed that in Baghdad’s areas that are populated by Sadr movement members, the same preventions were carried out.

Maliki’s taking behind the economic and military power and entering the 2010 elections by himself strengthened the “dictatorship” claims against him. More precisely, the prime minister’s usage of the military and economic power of the state for his own interests and wish of administrating Iraq by his own provided the basis for a serious confrontation with the other groups. Economically, it is propounded that Maliki has given privileges to the Iraqi Sunni tribes in order to gain their loyalties. Besides, it is mentioned that the oil revenues were used actively by Maliki during the election propaganda. Anti-Malikis express that he prevented the initiatives directed at questioning the corruptions.

In fact, with the aim of preventing the construction of a Ba’ath-like central authority during the preparations of the constitution following the Iraq War in 2003, it was taken into consideration that the state authorities to be divided among the cabinet members and state institutions. Especially, it is mentioned that the state power was divided between the institutions in order for the problems to be solved diplomatically, to protect their own interests and for all the groups to have a say in the state administration in the post-Saddam period.

As a matter of fact, when we look at the task and the structure of the Presidency Council, in a way it is constituted in the situation of approving or rejecting the government decisions. At the Presidency Council it is seen that presidency and deputy presidencies are divided between Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds and they have equal rights on approving or rejecting the laws. However, anti-Maliki groups claim that the Prime Minister passes through the existing legal authorities and disrupts the existing legal balances between different groups in favor of themselves. On top the main criticism points are the “onemanship”, centralization, establishing control over the state institutions, disregarding the criticisms of the other groups and suppressing the oppositional groups. Naturally, the steps that Maliki in the direction of being one man rises the portion of the criticisms directed against him.

Another criticism that is directed against Maliki is that the theme of patriotism that he has used during the elections. For instance he was primarily criticized for keeping silent against Iran’s establishment of a military presence albeit shortly in Felli in oil zone. It is mentioned this silence decreased the confidence that the Iraqis feel in Maliki and led suspicions about him. Especially, Sunni Arabs’ criticism of Maliki’s silence was striking. Besides, it is claimed that there was Maliki to be sure behind the initiatives that to move the candidates like Salih Mutlak beyond the elections by the accusations of being former Ba’ath members.

One of the main emphases of Maliki put forward during the 2009 provincial elections was the developments on the security area. There were works began for removing the concrete blocks in Baghdad in August 2009 through the influence the success that was gained in the security area. However in August 2009, along with the deficiencies in the security area, the attacks that were carried about the Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Finance in the Green Zone undermined the confidence in Maliki in the issue that he was most trusted. The continuation of the activities after the August attacks and failure of the government in providing security raised the intense of the criticisms. Lastly the attacks that were come out in January and February 2010 during Erbain ceremonies totally undermined Maliki’s efforts regarding security.

To conclude, one can see that the criticisms against the Prime Minister Maliki started to be mentioned more clearly while there left one month to the elections. The regimen of the criticisms can rise and more generous expressions may emerge.

»» Veysel Ayhan, ORSAM Advisor Ogün Duru, ORSAM Chief Editor

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