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He’s awful but I’d probably still prefer him to Abadi.
If you have time, can you explain the election (as you see it)?
He’s awful but I’d probably still prefer him to Abadi.
What does religion have to do with Kashmir and Bangladesh? It is more about groups in power that are also in the majority (in this case religion, political and regional), oppressing and persecuting communities with less power. Kashmir is as much a proxy war than something Kashmir valley people want genuinely in a religious sense. True, in the Indian subcontinent religion has played a tragic part in history. India being one of the countries in the world being divided because of religion. But Arabs are an ethnicity, comprising of Christians, Druze and Baha'i as well. Even though they are having an incredibly tough time in that part of the world.
They could have a two state solution. But for that, Fatah and Hamas will have to sign a peace deal with Israel, the same way Jordan and Egypt did. Egypt and Jordan have good relations with Israel after they signed a peace deal. Israel even gave the Sinai to Egypt. Hamas will have to lay down arms though and the Palestinian leadership will have to recognise Israel as a country. Also, Iran will have to stop using the Syrian War as a smokescreen to be belligerent to Israel. It's just the way it works. There's no way that will happen now though with neocons like Bolton and Pompeo in office.
He’s awful but I’d probably still prefer him to Abadi.
If you have time, can you explain the election (as you see it)?
Yeah sure.
So this is the fourth general election since Iraq has become a ‘democracy’. It’s a PR system using 18 of Iraq’s governates as the constituencies. And as such Iraqi politics has relied on a coalitions and alliances compromising of broad groups to form governments.
Considering Iraq is a majority Shia nation, the bigger blocs are Shi’a affiliated. This year the key players are the bloc led by the incumbent Prime Minister Abadi, a bloc made up of the Iranian-backed Shi’a Miltias led by Hadi Al-Ameri, and then there’s the bloc led by the firebrand nationalist cleric Muqtada Al Sadr. There are some smaller coalitions comprising of Sunnis and Christians but the best they can hope for is to negotiate a position of power should the other coalitions come up short. The Kurds meanwhile are doing their own thing in the north where they’re trying to consolidate their strongholds, completely disinterested in Baghdad.
The mood going into this election is complete disillusionment and apathy, and from what I hear the turnout is as low as 21%. Think it’s just gotten to the point Iraqis are sick of the corruption, perpetual war and economic collapse.
I think Abadi expected a relatively comfortable victory because of his tenure overseeing the defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq but corruption has pretty much damaged his chances. He’s also seen as the most friendly towards the US (he’s the US’ preference) which you could argue has also done him no favours, especially considering the sentiment towards Trump in Iraq (him saying we’re not a proper country and how he was going to take our oil as compensation), and with the ripping up of the Iran deal and moving the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, it’s not a good time to be a US stooge. As of now Abadi seems to be in third place behind the Shia militia coalition (PMF) and Al-Sadr’s coalition.
So right now it seems to be between the PMF and Al-Sadr. The PMF is unsurprisingly Iran’s preference, and enjoy a substantial core of support from Iraq’s Shia population since their militias have been credited as the genuine bulwark against ISIS, but are met with apprehension from the Sunni and secular demographic who fear their sectarian inclination. Needless to say the US isn’t too hot on them either considering their close ties to Iran and the faction’s general hostility towards the US (one of their leaders even suggested turning on the US military personnel in Iraq after the Jerusalem embassy fiasco).
Then there’s the wildcard candidate Moqtada Al Sadr and his alliance who as of now are currently leading. Sadr is an interesting one, he’s a Shia cleric who is the son of a very influential Shia cleric in Iraq that Saddam had assassinated. He really came to prominence during the early occupation of Iraq where his faction served as the main insurgency in the South where they battled US forces in a guerilla campaign. However despite being a Shia cleric, he’s a staunch nationalist that appears to run on a non sectarian banner and claims to be independent of Iran, at times publicly condemning the excessive influence they hold in the country. I’d imagine he’s become popular because he’s run on an anti corruption platform (his party managed to temporarily shut down government last year to protest rampant corruption), and because he boasts appeal from Iraq’s minorities on account of his seemingly secular nationalism (his main partner in the alliance is Iraq’s communist party if that’s any indication). The trouble is the guy is an absolute unpredictable headcase and I’m pretty sure he’s somewhere on the autistic spectrum, so he’s about as qualified to be Iraq’s prime minister as any of us.
I can’t really you tell how it’ll end, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Abadi clutches on to power even if his coalition loses.
Edit: Just realised Al-Sadr himself cannot become prime minister. Will be interesting to see who he choses though, the Iranian or US stooge?
By play his cards right you mean not be a corrupt kleptocrat, ie a personification of Iraq’s current political problems?If Baha al-Araji had played his cards right he could've been in the mix as PM now.
By play his cards right you mean not be a corrupt kleptocrat, ie a personification of Iraq’s current political problems?
Ayad Jamal Al-Din. I actually voted for him in 2010, ran on a genuinely secular platform, rejecting close ties with Iran and choosing to focus on infrastructure.@Kaos who was the Shi'i guy you liked a few years back, seemed a thoroughly decent sort and so perhaps not quite cut out for Iraqi politics?
The trouble with Muqtada is he’s both extremely fickle and impulsive. I mean he’s even now getting cosy with MBS and the Saudis ffs. Give it another four years and he’ll probably have classic Ba’athis running on his platform.Yes. He was Muqtada's guy until a couple of years ago.
His movement served as the main Shia insurgency in the early years of the occupation, where they’d fight coalition troops in the South.Isn't Al Sadr a fecking militant?
His men were responsible for some fecking atrocities during the hight of the war and during the Maliki years.
The trouble with Muqtada is he’s both extremely fickle and impulsive. I mean he’s even now getting cosy with MBS and the Saudis ffs. Give it another four years and he’ll probably have classic Ba’athis running on his platform.
Ayad Jamal Al-Din. I actually voted for him in 2010, ran on a genuinely secular platform, rejecting close ties with Iran and choosing to focus on infrastructure.
I genuinely think he was the legit benevolent type, but unfortunately I don’t think secular tickets do particularly well in Iraq’s democratic model. The sad reality is voters will default to their tribal/sectarian allegiances.
I take it Sunni parties are an irrelevance right now? It’s weird because it seems like a united Sunni front could potentially do quite well given the divisions among the Shi’a.
Yeah sure.
So this is the fourth general election since Iraq has become a ‘democracy’. It’s a PR system using 18 of Iraq’s governates as the constituencies. And as such Iraqi politics has relied on a coalitions and alliances compromising of broad groups to form governments.
Considering Iraq is a majority Shia nation, the bigger blocs are Shi’a affiliated. This year the key players are the bloc led by the incumbent Prime Minister Abadi, a bloc made up of the Iranian-backed Shi’a Miltias led by Hadi Al-Ameri, and then there’s the bloc led by the firebrand nationalist cleric Muqtada Al Sadr. There are some smaller coalitions comprising of Sunnis and Christians but the best they can hope for is to negotiate a position of power should the other coalitions come up short. The Kurds meanwhile are doing their own thing in the north where they’re trying to consolidate their strongholds, completely disinterested in Baghdad.
The mood going into this election is complete disillusionment and apathy, and from what I hear the turnout is as low as 21%. Think it’s just gotten to the point Iraqis are sick of the corruption, perpetual war and economic collapse.
I think Abadi expected a relatively comfortable victory because of his tenure overseeing the defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq but corruption has pretty much damaged his chances. He’s also seen as the most friendly towards the US (he’s the US’ preference) which you could argue has also done him no favours, especially considering the sentiment towards Trump in Iraq (him saying we’re not a proper country and how he was going to take our oil as compensation), and with the ripping up of the Iran deal and moving the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, it’s not a good time to be a US stooge. As of now Abadi seems to be in third place behind the Shia militia coalition (PMF) and Al-Sadr’s coalition.
So right now it seems to be between the PMF and Al-Sadr. The PMF is unsurprisingly Iran’s preference, and enjoy a substantial core of support from Iraq’s Shia population since their militias have been credited as the genuine bulwark against ISIS, but are met with apprehension from the Sunni and secular demographic who fear their sectarian inclination. Needless to say the US isn’t too hot on them either considering their close ties to Iran and the faction’s general hostility towards the US (one of their leaders even suggested turning on the US military personnel in Iraq after the Jerusalem embassy fiasco).
Then there’s the wildcard candidate Moqtada Al Sadr and his alliance who as of now are currently leading. Sadr is an interesting one, he’s a Shia cleric who is the son of a very influential Shia cleric in Iraq that Saddam had assassinated. He really came to prominence during the early occupation of Iraq where his faction served as the main insurgency in the South where they battled US forces in a guerilla campaign. However despite being a Shia cleric, he’s a staunch nationalist that appears to run on a non sectarian banner and claims to be independent of Iran, at times publicly condemning the excessive influence they hold in the country. I’d imagine he’s become popular because he’s run on an anti corruption platform (his party managed to temporarily shut down government last year to protest rampant corruption), and because he boasts appeal from Iraq’s minorities on account of his seemingly secular nationalism (his main partner in the alliance is Iraq’s communist party if that’s any indication). The trouble is the guy is an absolute unpredictable headcase and I’m pretty sure he’s somewhere on the autistic spectrum, so he’s about as qualified to be Iraq’s prime minister as any of us.
I can’t really you tell how it’ll end, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Abadi clutches on to power even if his coalition loses.
Edit: Just realised Al-Sadr himself cannot become prime minister. Will be interesting to see who he choses though, the Iranian or US stooge?
People often forget that a large proportion of Iraqi Sunnis are Kurds, almost all of which are Sunnis and almost all of which will vote Kurdish. So a united Arab sunni front would still likely be dwarfed by any of the major Shi’a dominated blocs. Also, as far as power sharing prospect go, Kurds have historically been reluctant to get into bed with Arab nationalists, especially those with sympathetic Ba’athi leanings considering the atrocities they’d suffered under Saddam.That’s the guy, what happened there? I take it Sunni parties are an irrelevance right now? It’s weird because it seems like a united Sunni front could potentially do quite well given the divisions among the Shi’a.
Thanks a lot!
From your write-ups, especially concering sectarianism, al-Sadr seems to be the least bad among many bad options.
It depends who you ask really. Looking from the outside I could see why Moqtada would be the ‘sensible’ choice, but as someone who’s a staunch secularist I’d still prefer the PMF over him and Abadi on account of the latter two’s closeness to Saudi Arabia and the US respectively. I don’t like Iranian meddling in Iraqi politics, but i see it as a lesser evil than being associated with Trump or the Saudis. Though others will have different perspectives.
Granted it’s abit hyperbolic to call Moqtada a Saudi Scrooge considering he met him just the once, but I have to stress the guy is an absolute loose cannon who’s pathologically inpulsive. If you don’t believe me then research his activities over the last 20 years. None of these candidates are particularly great but what Iraqi doesn’t need is an unstable eccentric like him.
Talked to a semi-ITK type yesterday who seems convinced that Muqtada's results will somehow result in Hadi al-Amiri becoming PM.
In what sense? Was he insintuating that he was Moqtada's preference or alluding to more of a compromise?
He seemed to think that once the dust settles that al-Amiri will emerge after negotiations on a governing coalition take place. Personally, I would think Muqtada would want to gravitate towards Abadi given that Muqtada is generally more in the nationalist vein and al-Amiri is obviously regarded as Iran leaning.
Nevermind that, the man fought on the Iranian side during the Iraq-Iran war. Can't see that going down well with the nationalists.
It’s not really to do with Saddam. I mean I’m both of a Shia and Kurdish background so I despise Saddam as much as his most vehement haters, but something about an Iraqi actively fighting against his own country, helping kill Iraqi servicemen (most of which were Shia anyway) leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. And I’m pretty sure many Iraqis will feel the same irrespective of their sectarian leaning and what they think of a Saddam.Seeing that it was that tyrannical rat Saddam who started the Iran - Iraq wars, maybe people will agree with his decision to fight alongside the Iranians? Or do the nationalists there think favourably of SH now?
It’s not really to do with Saddam. I mean I’m both of a Shia and Kurdish background so I despise Saddam as much as his most vehement haters, but something about an Iraqi actively fighting against his own country, helping kill Iraqi servicemen (most of which were Shia anyway) leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. And I’m pretty sure many Iraqis will feel the same irrespective of their sectarian leaning and what they think of a Saddam.
*Moqtada.Mostafa Al-Sadr has won the iraqI election.
Darn autocorrect.*Moqtada.
Now let’s see who he picks as PM.
He’s desperately trying to pin himself as the anti Iranian Shi’a nationalist.
It’s a hell of a gamble, by distancing himself from both the US and Iran he’s going to be heavily isolated. There’s also the complication that his Sadrist Movement has essentially disarmed with the most powerful militant faction being the pro Iranian PMF who will almost certainly take issue with his sentiments toward Assad.
If he cosies up with the Saudis while doubling down on his anti Iranian sentiment he won’t last very long. The Saudis are bitterly resented amongst Iraq’s Shi’a population.I don't know how distant he will be with the US. Trump doesn't seem to care about Iraq as long as ISIS aren't in charge and Muqtada is forging relationships with his buddy MBS (who is in turn in good terms with Kushner/Trump et al), so he is likely to have amicable relations with the gulf states which act as a hedge if he were to run a-fowl with Tehran and Damascus.
If he cosies up with the Saudis while doubling down on his anti Iranian sentiment he won’t last very long. The Saudis are bitterly resented amongst Iraq’s Shi’a population.