“Extraordinary” activity by the American ambassador in Baghdad

“Extraordinary” activity by the American ambassador in Baghdad

10-20-2022

Amidst the assertion by leaders from the “coordinating framework” that they were “on the verge” of presenting the government formation to Parliament, observers noted the extraordinary activity of the US ambassador to Iraq, Elena Romanowsky, since Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani obtained papers assigning him to form the new government.

According to official data, during the past week, Romanowski has intensified her visits to Al-Sudani, the Presidents of the Republic and Parliament, to discuss the formation of the government.

However, Iraqi political sources familiar with these meetings said that the ambassador was “very keen that the efforts of the political forces succeed in forming the cabinet without delay.”

The sources quoted to Asharq Al-Awsat, as part of a discussion between Al-Sudani and the ambassador, about “the necessity of forming a government that contributes to restoring security and political stability in the country,” and that they used phrases such as “it is good to benefit from the experience of previous governments, because failure this time will cost Iraq has serious repercussions.”

Iraqi leaders tried to reassure the US ambassador in Baghdad that the new government will maintain its strategic relations with Washington, and that it enjoys great political support in Parliament, which will easily give it confidence, according to what a leader in the “Al-Fateh Alliance” said.

Al-Sudani also told the German ambassador to Iraq, Martin Jaeger, that his prospective government seeks to “build balanced relations with its regional and international surroundings.”

Regarding the path of forming the government, a source close to the prime minister-designate told Asharq Al-Awsat that the cabinet lineup will be a “hybrid of party figures, independents and technocrats,” and that Al-Sudani did not face obstacles in the issue of choosing them, because the affiliated parties presented him with many options for preference. The source explained that Al-Sudani asked the party leaders to overcome the political and administrative obstacles to form a government as soon as possible.

The “state will” coalition, which includes the “coordinating framework”, the “sovereignty coalition” and the Kurdish forces, announced earlier that it had set next Saturday as a date for voting on the new government.

A member of the State of Law coalition, Thaer fearful, said that the cabinet line-up will be complete, except for two ministries, which will postpone naming their ministers to a later time.

However, a source from the Sunni “Sovereignty Alliance” confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the date may be postponed for a few days because Al-Sudani received only the candidates of the Shiite parties, waiting for the lists of ministers from the rest of the allies.

In the case, the ministries were distributed among the political forces according to the points system, where the presidency of the republic reached 30 points, the deputy 25 points, and the minister 20 points.

While the forces of the “coordinating framework” are trying to show a high degree of harmony in the government’s negotiations and the nomination of its ministers, the matter is not so simple with regard to executive positions in the security and financial institutions, especially the intelligence service and the prime minister’s office.

But leaders from the “coordinating framework” are still afraid of occupying executive positions that the “Sadr movement” has controlled for years, while they prefer “coexistence with the Sadrist presence within the government to avoid repercussions harmful to the stability of the Sudanese government.”

In addition, the President of the Republic, Abdel Latif Jamal Rashid, received the Prime Minister-designate. The media office of the President of the Republic stated in a statement that “the meeting discussed the general situation in the country, and the two sides stressed the importance of unifying the national ranks and working to form a new government that confronts the challenges facing the country and works to serve the Iraqi people and improve their living and service conditions.” Al-Sudani said in a tweet on Twitter: “We discussed efforts to form the next government, to be at the level of challenges, and at the good expectations of the Iraqi people, their aspirations, and their service and living needs.”

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