November 16th, 2010 by Jason

In a new article, Marina Ottaway and Danial Kaysi describe the current state of government formation in Iraq as, “at best extremely fragile.” The  power-sharing agreement that would have Nouri al-Maliki remain prime minister “reaffirms the confessional character of the Iraqi political system.” According to the authors, the biggest obstacle to the implementation of the agreement is that it “does not really appear to be legally enforceable,” instead relying on the “good will of all major political factions.” The authors conclude that if Maliki continues to accrue power unchecked and the “two main conditions” of the agreement, the foundation of the National Council on Higher Strategic Policies (originally meant to be headed by Ayad Allawi) and the reinstatement of three banned Sunni politicians, are not met “the implementation of the agreement is likely dead.”

Larry Kaplow, writing at Foreign Policy, warns that “Iraq is not democratic in a reliable or deep sense, where people can expect equal rights, legal protections, or access to their leaders.” He lists various offenses against journalists perpetrated by the Iraqi government under Maliki, including that the government “has started requiring that news agencies register their staff and equipment.” Rule of Law remains “an abstract concept,” with people buying their way out of trouble and bribing government officials, according to Kaplow.

Posted in Elections, Iraq, Sectarianism |