Iraq | After a year of deadlock, a president and a prime minister are appointed

(Baghdad) After a year of political deadlock and many trials of strength, Iraq finally has a president and a prime minister on Thursday, even if the rocket attacks in Baghdad illustrate the persistence of strong tensions.

Parliament, which sits in the Green Zone in Baghdad, elected a new President of the Republic, opting for a compromise candidate in the person of Abdel Latif Rachid, a 78-year-old former Kurdish minister.

In the aftermath, the head of state instructed Mohamed Chia al-Soudani to form a new government. Several times a minister and from the tradition of the majority Shiite community in Iraq, the 52-year-old politician has 30 days according to the Constitution to form his cabinet.

“I will spare no effort to form a strong government, determined to achieve its objectives”, Mr. Soudani said during a televised address, promising the youth to face “the accumulated problems, first of all the lack of services [publics]poverty, inflation, unemployment”.

“We are fully prepared to cooperate with all political forces and components of society,” he said.

He is the candidate of the pro-Iran factions of the Coordination Framework, which dominate the Assembly and seek to accelerate the political calendar, after more than a year of total paralysis in a deeply polarized country.

Since the legislative elections of October 2021, the political barons of the country had not succeeded in agreeing on a new president, nor in appointing a prime minister.

Between the lines, the struggles for influence between the two Shiite poles vying for power show through: the pro-Iran factions of the Coordination Framework and the unpredictable religious leader Moqtada Sadr.

Honorary function

Illustrating the tensions, nine Katyusha-type rockets fell on the Green Zone, which also houses other government institutions and embassies. A projectile fell near the Assembly.

These shots, which have not been claimed, left ten injured, four civilians hit when a rocket fell on a neighborhood bordering the Green Zone and six members of the police or guards providing security. deputies, according to an official.

“Such attacks undermine democracy and trap Iraq in a perpetual cycle of violence,” said US Ambassador to Baghdad Alina L. Romanowski.

However, this violence did not prevent the President of Iraq, a largely honorary function traditionally reserved for the large Kurdish minority, from being elected after three unsuccessful attempts this year.

At the end of the second round, the former Minister of Water Resources Abdel Latif Rachid, who is part of the old guard of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), won with more than 160 votes against the President outgoing Barham Saleh (99).

Welcoming this “important democratic step”, the French Embassy in Iraq called for “the formation of a government which does everything possible to respond to the legitimate demands of the Iraqi people […] “.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price welcomed the president’s election and called on “all parties not to resort to violence” while reiterating US support .

It remains to be seen what will be the reaction of Mr. Sadr, who has been demanding in recent months a dissolution of Parliament and early legislative elections.

He has demonstrated in recent months his ability to destabilize the political spectrum by mobilizing tens of thousands of demonstrators.

In July, a first candidacy of Mohamed Chia al-Soudani for the post of prime minister had set fire to the powder between the two camps.

The showdown came to a head on August 29, when more than 30 Sadrist supporters were killed in clashes with the army and Hachd al-Shaabi forces, integrated with regular troops.

“This is our contribution”

In a multi-confessional and multi-ethnic Iraq, the political parties of the Shiite community have dominated power since the American invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003.

After the surprise resignation in June of the 73 deputies of the Sadrist Current, the Coalition Framework became the first bloc in parliament with 138 deputies, according to a coalition official Ahmed al-Assadi.

The alliance brings together ex-paramilitaries from Hashd al-Chaabi and ex-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Moqtada Sadr’s historic rival.

The presidency has been one of the stumbling blocks paralyzing political life in Iraq. The position generally goes to the PUK, while the other major Kurdish party, the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP) retains control over the affairs of autonomous Kurdistan (north).

The PDK had demanded the presidency in Baghdad. But he ultimately voted for Abdel Latif Rachid, party official Bangen Rekani told AFP.

“We accepted the compromise candidate, it is our contribution to breaking the deadlock,” he said.