Maliki welcomes Sadr's decision to authorize him to appoint successors

[sabra]

Source: Voice of Iraq

Baghdad, Apr 16, (VOI) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has welcomed Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr's decision to authorize the prime minister to select independent persons to replace the six Shiite ministers who quit the government earlier in the day.

"Nouri al-Maliki welcomed Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's decision to authorize the prime minister to select independent, qualified persons to replace the six Shiite ministers," a statement from al-Maliki's office said, which was received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

"The prime minister appreciates the Sadrists' support of the ongoing political process and asserts that a sectarian quota system was not the right choice to help the country in facing challenges and difficulties," the statement added.

The Sadr Movement’s ministers in the incumbent Iraqi government were withdrawn upon orders from Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, in protest against the government's failure to set a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq, the movement chief in Iraq's parliament Nassar al-Rubaie, had said earlier.

Read more: http://www.aswataliraq.info/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=42142&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

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That's one way to spin it...

[annabanana]

1. huh. . Sadr basically said "Do whatever you want. I'm outta here"

Not exactly a situation that Maliki should be perfectly pleased with .. .

[Missy M]

3. yes, that means now that Sadr is out of there..

Sadr can do whatever he wants.

[acmavm]

2. Well, that's one way to 'put on a brave face' and ignore the

situation.

Maliki better be careful. I have a feeling that one of the things keeping his as alive and breathing WAS al Sadr's support.

[leftchick]

4. well that is putting lipstick on a pig

lol! Whatever. Here is a more realistic version of events....

<snip>

The other big event today was the withdrawal of the Sadrist bloc from the government, which will no doubt have grave implications on the political process in Iraq. The withdrawal of the Sadrist bloc was reported as a possibility in the Sunday issue of al-Hayat, which quoted a Sadrist deputy as saying that "the withdrawal (plan) has entered its final stages, and is currently discussed within the decision-making circles, represented by Muqada al-Sadr, the political bureau and the Sadrist bloc." The deputy added that the withdrawal decision was postponed due to the bombing in the parliament last week.

The news was finally confirmed by Az-Zaman and AlJazeera.net later on Sunday, with Sadrist leaders affirming that the official withdrawal will be pronounced on Monday.

The withdrawal of the six Sadrist ministers, a major pillar of the ruling Shi'a coalition, does not amount to an attempt to topple the government; as Sadrists have indicated that they will not be withdrawing from the parliament and will remain in the Shi'a bloc, hence preserving al-Maliki’s majority in the Assembly.

But the Sadrist withdrawal from the government could be a prelude for a more radical posture towards the "political process" as a whole. Especially as several top Sadrist leaders had expressed the possibility of abandoning the "political process" after al-Maliki announced his opposition to an American withdrawal plan from Iraq.

On the other hand, the Sadrists could also be seizing the moment of weakness of Maliki’s government to extract concessions; as Maliki’s majority in the parliament is as precarious as ever, with withdrawals from his bloc and counter-projects that aim to topple his majority (with Iyad 'allawi being the main challenger at the moment). If the Sadrist deputies join the ranks of the government’s opponents, al-Maliki could easily lose majority support for his cabinet.


http://uruknet.info/?p=m32173&s1=h1