Conflict among Iraqi, Iranian alliances over gov’t formation pushes Iraq into political turmoil

Failures are still dominating the scene of forming the Iraqi government, especially with some empty ministries that are being fought over by political alliances, that matter which negatively affects the Iraqi political process.

Reports said competition between two influential Shiite factions in Iraq has paralyzed the cabinet formation after six years following the election that was sought to rescues Iraq from the aftermath of years of war, leaders of these alliances are Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr and Hady Al-Amiri, who heads an alliance supported by Iran.

Observers further see that the Iraqi Parliament’s inability to resolve the crisis and finish the cabinet lineup would definitely has its effect on the Iraqi political scene, especially regarding the ongoing dispute on who is going to be nominated as the incoming minister of interior, a position which had been dominated for years by allies of Al-Amiri, head of the Badr Organization, a Shiite group loyal to Iran.

According to reports, al-Sadr believes that whoever is nominated for this position must have no political tendencies, which caused voting in the Parliament to delay more than once on the completion of Adil Abdul-Mahdi’s cabinet. This has put Iraq in a frozen state and a conflict between the Sunna and the Shiites that is similar to the conflict that followed the U.S. invasion in 2003.

Iraqi political analyst and writer Abdul-Jabbar al-Jubouri sees that the failure of the Parliament and its inability to fulfill the remaining ministries points out that Iraq has entered a dark tunnel of political chaos, caused by the Fatah Alliance, led by Abadi rivals Nouri al-Maliki and Hadi al-Ameri, because of its insistence on nominating Falih al-Fayyadh to the interior minister post, with Iranian support. Al-Sadr, on the other hand, insist that Fayyadh must not be nominated “regardless of any sacrifices.”

Jabouri also suggests that the crisis of the Iraqi government formation will push Iraq into an unknown fate, especially after Al-Sadr’s message to Abdul-Mahdi, in which he warned against attempts to twist wills and imposing a fait-accompli reality. The political analyst further warned that either Sadr's Sairoon Alliance will organize angry protests to end this conflict or Iranian arms will assassinate Al-Sadr.