Iraq opposition seeks to replace PM Maliki

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The anti-PM al-Maliki front in Iraq considers to put his predecessor al-Jaafari in charge if recent negotiations ends in failure. AA Photo

If the current Iraqi Prime Minister fails to agree to increase dialogue with other political entities in Iraq, former Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari is most likely to be nominated to the post at the upcoming unity meeting, a senior Kurdish official told the Hürriyet Daily News in an interview.

“Our first goal is to create a new channel of dialogue with [Prime Minister Nouri] al-Maliki to make him consider the other political parties in Iraq. However, if we don’t succeed in this our alternative is to remove al-Maliki and ask the National Iraqi Alliance to nominate someone,” said Cafer Ibrahim, spokesperson for the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who was Prime Minister in the Iraqi Transitional Government from 2005 to 2006, can be an alternative to al-Maliki, Ibrahim said.

Arbil meeting on May 7

Leaders from almost all of Iraq’s top political blocs will convene at a unity meeting in Arbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdish region, on May 7, in order to find a solution to the political crisis between the Shiite-led government and the country’s Sunnis and Kurds. KRG leader Masoud Barzani, Iraq’s fugitive Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, Shiite Sadrist leader Muqtada al-Sadr and other political figures are expected to attend the meeting. “We have done so much about the cabinet of al-Maliki, however, Iraqi people are suffering right now (from the political crisis). Now we have invited all the political parties to the meeting to reach a national solution in Iraq,” Ibrahim said. If the group can make Prime Minister al-Maliki come down to the Arbil meeting and come to an agreement, then they could move forward to next step of creating a solution in the cabinet, Ibrahim said. “If we can not succeed in this, our alternative is to remove al-Maliki. We estimate the right person that all the groups, including the Sunni Al Iraqiye group and the Kurds, can agree upon will be Ibrahim al-Jaafari. He is acceptable by everyone,” said Ibrahim.