The Iraqi Parliament’s approval, by an overwhelming majority, of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari’s Cabinet sets in concrete another cornerstone in the construction of the new Iraq. Its importance as a building block cannot be overstated. For the first time in half-a-century, Iraq not only has a democratically elected government; it has one that represents the overwhelming majority of Iraqis. All the ethnic and sectarian groups in the country are represented. That makes it a government for consensus — which is why almost all the members of Parliament attending yesterday’s session voted for it. We wish it well and hope that it will achieve peace and prosperity for the Iraqi people.
That will not be easy. It has been a difficult gestation, reflected in the fact that not all the positions have been filled. Two deputy prime ministers are yet to be appointed, while the prime minister has decided to take on the position of defense minister himself and give oil and electricity to the two named deputy prime ministers. The appointment of Ahmed Chalabi as one of these is perhaps the most surprising aspect of the new government; this one-time Washington favorite who so dramatically fell from favor, both with the Americans and it seemed with the Iraqis, is now very much back in the center of things.
It would, however, be wrong to play up the difficulties, which Jaafari himself admits, of forming a balanced government. After so many years of dictatorship and oppression, and in a country as diverse as Iraq, it was always going to be difficult to find complete consensus. Nor were differences of opinion limited to between the different ethnic and sectarian factions; infighting within Jaafari’s own Shiite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance over who would be oil minister also stalled progress. But a large degree of consensus across the political spectrum has now been achieved.
Peace and prosperity will, however, have to be worked on. The assassination of MP Lamia Abed Khadouri and the admission by Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, that the militants are as strong as ever, are evidence of how dangerous the situation remains. But that is no reason for pessimism. The new Iraq may be under attack but there is a determination at all levels to keep the country united and make it work.
Optimism too, can be drawn from the composition of the new Cabinet, in which there is distinct element of policy continuity. Several ministers served in the outgoing administration of Iyad Allawi, notably Hoshyar Zebari who remains foreign minister. Moreover, the decision to keep defense, oil and electricity in the hands of the three most important figures in government indicates that they are the priorities. Defense is all about security; it is in the prime minister’s remit. Electricity is the next most pressing issue in Iraq while oil is the country’s check book to the future; it is equally encouraging that they are in the hands of the two next most important men in the Cabinet. All in all, this is a government very much designed to address Iraq’s immediate needs.
