With the government-formation process in Iraq nearly complete, this will be the last posting under the special site dedicated to Iraq’s 2010 election. Carnegie scholars will continue to provide regular commentary and analysis on developments in Iraq at CarnegieEndowment.org.
While Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has succeeded in maintaining political power, the new government still faces significant challenges, including complex political alliances that could undermine much needed legislation, explain Marina Ottaway and Danial Kaysi.
The formal process that leads from the elections to the formation of a new government in Iraq is extremely complicated and bound to take time, even without taking into consideration the difficulty of forming viable political alliances.
An expanded "unity government" was formed on December 21, 2010 after more than nine months of negotiations. The new government—which features few independents, women, or technocrats—is likely to face many hurdles. This chart presents a complete list of cabinet ministers and Council of Representatives members by political affiliation.
The Iraqi National Alliance is the successor of the United Iraqi Alliance, which has dominated the government since the December 2005 elections. The major difference is that the Dawa Party has left the alliance, following Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's decision to form his own State of Law coalition rather than join the INA. Rumors of impending reconciliation between the two groupings persist.
The State of Law coalition is the embodiment of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s strategy of recasting himself as a secular, nationalist leader representing all of Iraq, rather than a Shi’i leader rooted in a religious organization.
The Iraqi National Movement bills itself as the major secular, non-sectarian political movement in Iraq. In reality, the Movement is based on an alliance of strong political personalities, who rely on their names and reputations rather than the strength of a political machine to attract voters.
The Unity Alliance of Iraq is a non-sectarian grouping of parties and individuals who portray themselves as secular nationalists. The Alliance’s main members, Interior Minister Jawad Bolani and his Constitution Party, and Ahmad Abu Risha and the Awakening Council of Iraq, considered joining Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition, but could not come to agreement on terms, and ultimately went their separate ways.
Nominally the successor to the Iraqi Accord Front, or Tawafuq, the Iraqi Accord is a coalition of mostly Sunni organizations. It describes itself as a secular alliance, despite the fact that its major component is the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) and the major secular Sunni groups and politicians have joined other alliances.
Iraq’s major Kurdish parties have shown no desire to join non-sectarian alliances in the 2010 parliamentary elections. Unlike every other electoral grouping, the Kurds are not trying to erect a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional façade.
As armed clashes last weekend show, north Lebanon is becoming a growing support base for the Syrian revolution. Sunni mobilization in support of the uprising in Syria is mounting and the Lebanese government is losing its ability to maintain its policy of neutrality.
The U.S. pivot to the Asia-Pacific has created both tension and opportunity in its relations with China.
Relations between Ukraine and the EU have reached their lowest point yet. It could be time for the EU to come up with a new plan.
Putin has returned to the Kremlin, but he faces a significantly different Russia, because the country's situation has changed drastically. The previous Putin’s consensus between those in power and society has fallen apart.
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