Alwaght- With the obstacle represented by a failure to elect a president removed last week after months of stalemate, the Iraqi society is preparing itself for the first government delivered by a election after official end of the foreign military forces’ presence in the country.
To reach this point, the Iraqis have gone a long way during the past eight months and to surprise of all, and despite the massive differences and gaps as well as dangerous street tensions and foreign conspiracies, they exerted wisdom to make their way through accumulated crises and struck a deal hardly expected by all.
But keeping within this path until the final destination of formation of a new cabinet and restoring political stability require vigilance since the new political deal is based on a transformed structure that is not without challenges.
The traditional equations of power in the political and social scene of Iraq have been subject to dynamics and transformations, and a concrete example is the walkout from the political process of Sadrist Movement as one of the influential heavyweights in Iraqi democracy and an important element in the direction of internal developments in recent years.
On the other hand, the traditional forces are facing a new generation of society's demands, and the process of developments after the 2019 protests showed that although these protests could not completely reform the rules of the political game, they caused changes and suspension in them. Since 2019, when street riots engulfed many Iraqi provinces, firstly, a stable cabinet has not yet been formed, and secondly, the Iraqi political scene witnessed an unprecedented political deadlock in the formation of a new government. However, the triumphs of the election of a new president and the nomination of a new prime minister just a few days after the street rallies on the anniversary of the 2019 protests that demanded the dissolution of the parliament showed that the new agreements are firm enough to propel the political process to formation of a new cabinet.
Also, there are other factors that challenge the sustainability of the new political process, including the destabilization caused by ISIS sleeper cells and the meddling by Western and Arab sides that are discontented with the brewing political mechanism. Over the past months, the foreign actors opposed to the Axis of Resistance— a regional bloc led by Iran and including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and Palestine— insisted to interpret the Iraqi election results to the detriment of the Resistance camp and were impatiently waiting a government to come to existence led by the now-collapsed Sovereignty Coalition of Muqtada al-Sadr, Masoud Barzani, and Mohammed al-Halbousi. But what has happened in practice has been completely contrary to their wishes and expectations, and the new government will witness the extinguished role of the resistance forces even more than in the previous government. Naturally, this situation does not appeal to the Western-Arab camp and the latter will work to bring the new parliament and cabinet to an impasse.
But despite these obstacles, currently the launching pad for the new government to beat the challenges starts from the policies that govern the way of cabinet composition, and therefore taking into account the following principles can smoothen its way to success.
program-orientation and technocracy
In the past years, one of the major criticisms by the society, especially the young generation, against the governments’ performance was the quota system in the selection of ministers, which has sometimes led to the selection of non-specialists and people not related to the specialized ministerial field and caused nepotism and disregard of meritocracy in distribution of managerial posts, with the brazen result being corruption. One of the main demands of the society from the governments is to carry out reforms and seriously fight corruption, and the first step to respond to this rightful demand of the society should show itself in the way the ministers are chosen. The political structure, ethnic and demographic composition, and the constitution and electoral system of Iraq have made political coalitions in the parliament and the participation of parties in the selection of ministers to be an integral part of the government formation process. However, prioritization of program-orientation, technocracy, and meritocracy by both the parties and the prime minister and ultimately the parliament in selection of ministers can speed up the reform process expected by the society and produce political stability.
Involving the society in the political process
Iraq is a highly young and changing society in terms of cultural and social layers. Statistics suggest that more than 68 percent of Iraq's population is below 30, and children under 15 years old make up 40 percent of population. One of the effects of such a situation is referred to as the generation gap, which means that there are differences between the demands and expectations, lifestyles, value systems, and political interests of the different generations. One of the factors that can help maintain the political stability of Iraq is the incorporation of the youth in the governing affairs, in the formulation of executive programs, and in selection of ministers and managers and giving them advisory positions. Anyway, meeting the society's expectations from the government in selection of ministers will facilitate the people's cooperation with the government's plans, ease the challenges, and realize the policies as best as possible.
Facilitating participation of off-the-parliament factions in the new government
As mentioned above, in the new conditions, the traditional power equation has somehow undergone changes. The Shiite Coordination Framework (SCF) as the majority holder in the parliament and the main driving force behind new government formation has announced that doors are open for participation of the opposition, especially the Sadrists. Although resignation of Sadrist parliamentary bloc, Saerun, catalyzed the start of the new government formation process, its leader Muqtada al-Sadr is still an important weight in the political equations and the door to interaction with his party should be kept open.
Replacing competitive-partisan approach with national-interactive one
Another condition for success of the current political process in the face of challenges is the form of approach of the political parties present in the parliament towards the need for a national interaction to get Iraq out of the crises that piled up on it over the past two decades. Battling the economic challenges and walking the development path based on a common vision and national consensus are the top priorities of Iraq. The rise of oil prices in the current conditions has granted a golden opportunity to the Iraqis to fix part of their economic infrastructure problems— an opportunity that can be missed if Iraqis are caught in political rivalries. Synergy and coordination of political currents based on a national and cross-party approach in choosing cabinet ministers make effective steps in the process of solving the problems.
Commitment to a stable cabinet
And finally, the linking ring of the chain of the requirements for formation of an efficient government is the commitment and united vision of political factions to the nature and duties of the new government. That the new cabinet is temporary and undertaking the job of preparation for the new early elections or would take steps to do the unfinished work of its predecessors each would deliver a different view to its future performance. Certainly, settlement of Iraqi problems requires political and management stability and avoiding fall in the vicious circle of unstable cabinets and street tensions.
