What Is Wrong with A Coalition?

The new coalition between Nuri Maliki’s Rule of Law and Hakim’s National Alliance has stirred some controversy inside Iraq. The protests by political rivals –mainly the Ayad Allawi-led Al-Iraqiyah- might make one who is unfamiliar with Iraq’s political dynamics think that such coalitions have been taboo up until now. The truth is that Maliki is trying to make up for the political blunder he committed before the election when he refused to partner with the National Alliance. But is there any justification for blaming him for changing his mind?

Maliki’s rivals –mostly Sunnis gathered under the Al-Iraqiyah umbrella- seem to have forgotten the basis of their own alliance. Accusing Hakim and Maliki of Shi’a factionalism is as absurd as accusing the Al-Iraqiyah members of Sunni factionalism. Shi’a Ayad Allawi’s leadership over the Al-Iraqiyah list is just nominal, as 80 of the 91 seats won by this group belong to Sunnis (many of whom had once –albeit in the distant past- been members of the Ba’ath Party). Perhaps Al-Iraqiyah leaders have forgotten that immediately after the parliamentary elections in March, three key Sunni politicians, Tariq al-Hashimi, Osama al-Nujaifi and Abdul Karim al-Samarayi, insisted on election of the president to be from among the Sunnis. Another Kurdish president, they said, is an offense to the Iraqi nation.

Negotiating for an alliance has been a common practice in Iraqi politics. Maliki and Hakim do, the Kurds believe in it –they formed the Kurdish Alliance, after all- and even Al-Iraqiyah would do so. If Allawi has failed to find any political partners to forge an alliance, that is his own problem.

Al-Iraqiyah never ceases to accuse Tehran of intervention in Iraq’s domestic affairs. The formation of Iraq’s National Pact is the fruit of Iran’s pressures, it claims. And yet the leaders of the Sunni-dominated list have never responded to media questions about their frequent visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan, and their bold requests for foreign assistance to ensure that the next prime minister of Iraq will be elected from their list. In an interview with the Qatari daily al-Sharq, Tariq al-Hashimi directly asked the Arab League to involve itself in Iraq’s internal affairs and stop the formation of an Iran-favored Shi’a government. Ironically, he also criticized Iran for its meddling in the same interview.

Allawi has perhaps forgotten Iran’s requests asking him to join the Shi’a coalition, which he rejected in the last moments simply to satisfy the Saudis. Riyadh, which has turned into the center for the issuance of religious decrees—fatwas—against Shi’as, backs Sunni groups and finances car bombings through its religious institutes, is not, it seems, a destructive force for Allawi.

And what does Allawi think of the U.S. role? While Ammar Hakim -head of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC)- has frequently warned about Washington’s intervention in his meetings with the U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad and rejects influencing political affairs through diplomatic, security, and economic pressures, Allawi has remained silent, or even worse, demanded that the Americans help him secure the premiership post. American diplomats have been hard at work trying to forge an alliance between Maliki and Allawi, but somehow none of their efforts have been regarded as ‘meddling’ in Iraq’s domestic affairs by Ayad Allawi.

No one is denying the rights of Allawi and Al-Iraqiyah, which have secured the most seats in the Iraqi parliament. But that doesn’t mean other coalitions –which do not violate Iraq’s constitution- can’t form political partnerships. Iraq belongs to all groups, whether Shi’a, Sunni, Kurd, or Christian.