I disagree with those who accuse Nuri Al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, of sectarianism. Rather, he is guilty of political opportunism. He currently uses the Sunni-Shiite dispute for the sole aim of remaining in power. With regard to his aims concerning his political rivals, Al-Maliki’s intentions are becoming clearer. I also disagree with those who think he is trying to isolate Sunni leaders. Despite the fact that he has made his war against the Sunni leadership public, his true aim is to eliminate the Shiite leadership.
Al-Maliki’s desire is to rule Iraq for many years. He knows that his real rivals are not Sunni leaders like Tareq Al-Hashemi, Rafia Al-Issawi or Ahmed Abu Risha but Shiite leaders — Moqtada Al-Sadr, Ammar Al-Hakim and even his partner in the party, Ibrahim Al-Jaafari. The latter are the only people capable of dislodging him from power. This is because they will take away his Shiite votes in the next elections. His desire to win Shiite votes only comes in question if we assume he will go through the election process to stay in power. It must be noted that he will not be able to participate in the next elections as he has already ruled for two terms.
Al-Maliki knows that most Sunnis, whether they are individual voters or party leaders, will not vote for him in the first place. At the same time, he is aware that the Shiites are frustrated with the manner in which he rules the country. After six years of his premiership, the country remains without services and jobs, and there is no hope of a stable future. This is why Al-Maliki thinks that the only way he can stay in power is through becoming a Shiite hero by riding the wave of the Sunni-Shiite dispute. This is why he escalated the campaign against Sunni officials, personally confronted their protests and fabricated cases against them. He thinks this will make him a hero in the eyes of the Shiite leaders. Sunni criticism and protests against him also make him a victim in the eyes of many Shiites and thus help him gain their sympathy. Between being the Sunnis’ victim and the Shiites’ hero, Al-Maliki wants to defeat his competitors among the Shiite leaders who criticize him, like Moqtada Al-Sadr. Although Al-Maliki personally engages in verbal battles with Sunni leaders, he avoids such battles with his Shiite rivals. Even when Sadr declares a political battle against him and confronts him with protests, Al-Maliki avoids clashing with him or his followers.
I do not think Al-Maliki really has disputes with, or vendetta against Sunni leaders. But unfortunately, for the sake of remaining in power, he is willing to commit all sins including sabotaging the social fabric, pushing the country toward a long sectarian struggle and perhaps even disuniting Iraq. He is willing to do anything as long as he achieves his aim of staying a leader.
There are no convincing reasons behind the escalation Al-Maliki began against his former Sunni partners. All the Sunnis he fights today are the ones who stood behind him during the past years. They are the ones who worked with him in the government despite the general Sunni frustration with the large number of jailed Sunni sons and the hundreds of thousands laid off from their jobs because of excuses like eradicating Baathist sympathizers.
The last person Al-Maliki targeted is one of his allies in the war against terrorism, Ahmad Abu Risha, whose brother Abdel Sater is a victim of Al-Qaeda. Sater was killed for leading his tribe, known as Sahwa Forces, to fight and defeat Al-Qaeda after the Americans and Al-Maliki’s troops failed to defeat them. What is ironic is that Al-Maliki accuses Abu Risha of cooperating with Al-Qaeda although the latter killed the former’s brother!
We will not find a reason for Al-Maliki’s regressive stance other than the hunger for power which he will do anything and everything for. He is akin to dictator Saddam Hussein who acted against everyone he felt threatened with. He pursued everyone whether they were Baathist or Sunnis. He killed his best friends and even his daughters’ husbands because they opposed him.
