Not Easy Being The PM Part II
As I predicted last November 18 (actually last June in private conversations with the owner of the Baby Biltmore) that the current PM Maliki would be replaced and now with his Wall Street Journal interview he admittedly states that he wishes to end his term as PM even sooner.
Most in the Iraqi Parliament would agree PM Maliki is ineffective and needs to be replaced if Iraq is ever going to improve. Someone that will move to disband the militias or go to battle against them and not be beholden to them as PM Maliki has repeatedly showed some favoritism in the past.
This is going to be hard to do, replacing the PM with someone that will go up against the Militias who control and strongly influence the Iraqi government. Such as the Firebrand Shia Cleric/commander who as of right now controls six Cabinet seats in PM Maliki government and 30 seats in the Iraqi Parliament.
Remember PM Maliki promised a reshuffle of his cabinet by the end of the year, well he is hoping that he is one of them. Noticed that no one has been shuffled as of yet. Maybe the PM is thinking if he can’t be shuffled then no one gets shuffled.
I still hold that PM Maliki will leave office and will step down by Valentines Day. I could be wrong and he stays on at the detriment of the Iraqi people who suffer from not having an effective government that they had elected in December 2005.
Iraq before the sanctions and before the Iraq and Iran war was the premier Arab country in the Middle East and were number one in a lot of areas and Industries. They can achieve more and have the best economy in the region just have to get past the current situation. The positive spot in all this is that Iraq’s economy will continue to grow despite the violence that plagues it daily and this is not publicized enough.
In 2007 I expect the economy to grow faster as the Banking infrastructure improves, the Electronic Trading of the Iraq Stock Exchange goes online in June 2007, the International Compact is signed later in the year, the final installment with the Stand By Agreement (SBA) in March 2007 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), More Oil production and Oil sales, the increased in value of the Iraqi Dinar. I think you get the picture.
In any case the year 2007 for Iraq will be exciting and very much looking forward to Iraq achieving its greatness it had achieved long ago in the Arab region.
Comments
American COntractor,
I have read a number of your posts including many of the updates you added regarding the banking situation and the financials you posted. I think that a major factor in bringing peace to the country lies in economics and I think you would agree. Do you feel that the ministries will actually deliver on all those things that "look good on paper" or will they steer more perks (pork barrel projects) to their friends and party allies?
Are they really sincere overall or is it more of a sham?
I agree with you that militia situation and the Iranian influences REALLY need to be dealt with...
Posted by: Paul | January 5, 2007 9:25 AM
As far as the Ministries are concerned they are no different then the dems or the Repubs in the USA. The Iraqi Ministries will deliver on things that can be accomplished with little friction from the party members that are controlling the government. Corruption is a serious problem and the GOI is trying to work on this issue. I do believe they would like to see changes in improving how they are conducting government business, however, there are members that are at times blocking the progress who carry a lot influence in government. The militias control as of now the agenda of the Iraqi government in it’s day to day operations. The militias have to be disbanded and soon if they are ever going to progress ahead.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Posted by: American Contractor | January 5, 2007 11:57 PM
Its fine to talk about electing someone who isn't beholden to militias...but who is going to be elected that the militias don't approve of? this is a fantasy character. any shiite allowed to rule will do so only with al-Sadr's blessing, unless they form some coalition with sunni's and their insurgents. power flows from the barrel of a gun.
Posted by: john | January 6, 2007 2:11 PM
I got a good candidate to take Maliki's slot Ayad Allawi!!!
Posted by: MEALTICKET | January 8, 2007 5:50 AM