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Iraqi VP says PM attempting power grab
The Iraqi vice president has accused Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of trying to amend the constitution to give the central government more powers. Adel Abdul-Mahdi criticized al-Maliki's action on Tuesday, saying that amending the constitution would curtail the powers of the provincial administrations. Al-Maliki's government is monopolizing power and hindering reconstruction efforts after years of war in the country's south, he added. But al-Maliki argues the alternative to a strong central government would be chaos. Abdul-Mahdi's Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council party has a vested interest in a decentralized federal system since it aspires to create and dominate a self-ruled region in southern Iraq that mirrors the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq and ensures the party's future as a major player, AP reported. With less than two weeks to go before the provincial elections of January 31, this issue could reshape local power bases in the south and elsewhere, as critics say it could carve Iraq into a Shia south, a mainly Sunni center, and a Kurdish north. Abdul-Mahdi, who says he has toured seven of the nine southern provinces, has described conditions there as "deplorable". He stated that the "monopoly of power" in Baghdad by the central government and its ministries must be brought to an end as it has become a hurdle to any development in the south. "Iraq cannot be left up to the thinking of one official or one department. The constitution and investment laws must be implemented," AP quoted him as saying on Tuesday. Posted by: Fred 2009-01-21 |
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