Sistani, the most prominent players in the top five elections Iraq
Sistani, the most prominent players in the top five elections Iraq
02/29/2014
Baghdad / Orr News
Told AFP that there are five key players in the current Iraqi parliamentary elections. The Agency has prepared a brief profile for each and every one of them:
* Nuri al-Maliki, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is seeking a third term at a time when his government is facing a surge in violence. Maliki spent decades in exile, but returned after the U.S. invasion of Iraq and presided over the first permanent government after Saddam Hussein’s rule and that of 2006.
Maliki, who rarely smiles, has emerged as a strong leader after he had managed to impose stability shortly after his arrival to power and his record reduced levels of violence in the country. The coalition of “rule of law” which is headed by al-Maliki in second place in the 2010 election after a coalition of “Iraq,” which is supported by a year, but an alliance with other Shi’ite parties allowed him to form a government of national unity. Has led the surge in violence over the past year to a decline in the credibility of al-Maliki . Maliki, as well as to a torrent of criticism from opponents who accused him of tyranny, despite his insistence that he is trying to manage unruly alliances.
* Osama Najafi, head of the Iraqi parliament and the most prominent political figure representing Sunni Arabs. Najafi was one of the parties that supported the secular Iraqiya coalition, which won the highest number of seats in the 2010 elections, and remained at odds with long-Maliki, and form his own party, led by his brother the governor of Nineveh, ethyl Najafi, in northern Iraq.
Najafi and called on the government to resign and setting early elections when Iraqi forces moved against anti-government protesters in Hawija in April last year. Najafi escaped from an attack on his convoy in the northern city of Mosul, a hometown in February last year.
* Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the leading Shiite religious authority in the country, has avoided any involvement in politics for a long time, knowing that he has millions of followers and has exceptional impact. It is the greatest leader in the religious authority in Iraq, and more than a well-respected Shiite politician, did not intervene in politics only on a few occasions since 2003, has called for voters to participate in elections in 2010, but without the support of any party. It was for the return trip from the treatment of al-Sistani in London in 2004 to Najaf credited with ending the bloody clashes between the Mahdi Army and U.S. forces.
Following pressure Sistani Washington decided to expedite the elections in early 2004 and was the driving force behind the creation of the Shiite alliance in parliament in 2006. Called Sistani during the sectarian conflict between 2006 and 2008 repeatedly to calm down.
* Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric claims Mehdi Army militia and abandoned the policy recently, but he still has clout. This man has earned the owner of dense black beard and black turban widespread popularity after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
After that Sadr has supported al-Maliki to form a government in 2006, ordered his followers in 2007 to withdraw from the government, which almost falls in that time. And support for al-Sadr al-Maliki reiterated at its second session in December (December) in 2010, but his face a barrage of criticism later. Shortly after his withdrawal from politics, al-Sadr made a speech in which he said that al-Maliki “tyrant.”
* Massoud Barzani, president of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, which enjoys autonomy. Kurdistan Democratic party has monopolized power for a long time with Jalal Talabani, the country’s president and the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Is the son of Kurdish leader Mullah Mustafa Barzani, has retained the post of party leader since 1979.
In the wake of the US-led invasion toppled President Saddam Hussein resulted in an agreement between him and Talabani to become Talabani, president of Iraq, while Barzani has elected chairman of the Kurdistan Regional Government. Although he brokered the deal that led to keep al-Maliki as prime minister in 2010, Barzani had in the last period of the most vocal opponents of the owners.
uragency.net
