Maleki’s Democratic Behavior

How do you assess the present political crisis in Iraq? 

As you have heard and as was reported in different media outlets, the situation in Iraq is not very desirable. The present crisis is a difficult problem which the government cannot easily escape from. Although Mr. Noori al-Maleki has enough power to solve this crisis, it is a very difficult task. The issue which he is faced with right now is that the Kurds do not cooperate with him and this has created an obstacle for him to bypass the crisis this time. Mr. Talebani, the president, is also sick, making everything even more difficult.

What will these demonstrations lead to? Will they succeed? Especially because they occur only in certain regions and there were even rallies in Baghdad in favor of Mr. Talebani.

Holding demonstrations is the people's right. Of course I mean peaceful demonstrations and not the ones where the flag of the former regime and the picture of Iraq's bloodthirsty dictator are held up. In my opinion, holding such rallies is not correct. Nevertheless, the nature of holding any demonstration by any legal political movement within the framework of the constitution is legal. No politician can stand against people's protests. People have demands which must be attended to. There has, so far, not been any sign of unrighteousness in people's demands who protested in Ramadi, Fallujah, Mosul, and other cities. I am not referring to the demonstrations where the flag of Syria's liberating army and pictures of Erdogan and Saddam Hussein could be seen. What I mean is the general concept of demonstrations. Such incidents did not happen in all rallies; they only happened in some of them. Furthermore, the presence of personalities such as Sheikh Abdulmalek al-Saadi, one of the Sunni leaders, nationalized this protest. The government must pay attention to these demonstrations. It might have some protests against it, but Mr. Maleki and other members of the cabinet will certainly attempt to peacefully solve these problems. Right now Mr. Maleki and other political leaders of Iraq are consulting to solve this problem in the best possible way. 

What measure, in your opinion, can Mr. Maleki take to satisfy the demonstrators and solve the problem?

Mr. Maleki is my friend. I respect his power and determination under such critical conditions. I expect him to be transformed, under these circumstances, from a dominant head of government into an experienced administrator who can control everything. Mr. Maleki has this capacity. He has proved that he can manage the affairs under the most difficult conditions. People's demands are not only legitimate but also, I believe, easy to fulfill. Their problems can be solved in the shortest amount of time. This point must be considered that ignoring these demands will bring about greater demands which might be unsolvable. These demands must be dealt with prudence and intelligence, no matter how insignificant they might be. 

Mr. Maleki has asked for an early election, while some political movements like that of Muqtada Sadr have expressed their disagreement with this measure. What is your opinion on this issue?

In my opinion, Mr. Maleki has offered the best proposal. Mr. Sadr does not want to accept that Mr. Maleki is taking the right step. He has personal problems with Mr. Maleki and always intends to show that Mr. Maleki is at fault, while this is not the case. Under these conditions, Mr. Maleki has taken the most democratic step and stated that he is ready to dissolve the parliament and hold an early election. The fact is that they are fearful of Mr. Maleki's power under these conditions. Not only the Sadr movement, but also the al-Iraqiyya and other opposition groups are afraid that Mr. Maleki will take advantage of these conditions to his own benefit in the best possible way and win again in the election. In my opinion, an early election will solve the problems even if, based on my speculations, Mr. Maleki will be the victor of the election.

How do you assess the role of foreign countries in the recent developments? Countries like Qatar and Turkey which are accused by Baghdad.

Despite the fact that I strongly oppose conspiracy theories, but I must unfortunately say that in these protests the involvement of foreign countries, particularly Qatar and Turkey, was obvious. It is not a coincidence that Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri makes a film from Qatar and broadcasts it and Mr. Erdogan strongly criticizes Mr. Maleki exactly during the first days and Doha expresses its satisfaction with the new conditions in Iraq. Certainly, they both have had negative impacts on Iraq's developments. Instead of helping us to solve our problems, they inflame the crisis. Nevertheless, this is an issue which the new Iraq is faced with.