Word: allawi
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Dates: during 2010-2019
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After an election that failed to produce a clear winner, Iraq's political leaders are squaring up for a fight that could have dire consequences for the country's security situation. Last week's media reports hailing Iyad Allawi as the election victor were a little premature: the former U.S.-installed Prime Minister's secular nationalist slate may have finished narrowly ahead of its nearest rival, but its share of the vote translates into only 91 seats in the 325-seat legislature, where 163 seats is the magic number needed to form a government. And while Allawi's first-place...
...Maliki has refused to accept the poll results, announced on March 26, and has demanded a recount - even though the election was certified by U.N. observers as largely aboveboard. The incumbent has also won from the Supreme Court an interpretation of Iraq's constitution that could prevent Allawi from having first bite at forming a new government. The constitution requires that the "bloc" with the most seats be given 30 days to form a ruling coalition, but in response to al-Maliki's inquiry, the court has ruled that bloc doesn't mean electoral slate, but rather the alliances...
Appointed Prime Minister of Iraq's first post-Saddam government in 2004, Allawi headed a corrupt, inept administration that set a poor tone for Iraq's fledgling democracy. As an American appointee, he lacked street cred. He projected himself as a democratic strongman - a contradiction in terms that convinced few of his countrymen. Although a Shi'ite, he alienated many among the majority sect by espousing a secular view of Iraq. Many Iraqis were suspicious of his ties to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, even though Allawi had left the party in 1975 and had survived an assassination attempt ordered...
When elections were held for a transitional government at the end of 2005, Allawi was easily trounced by a coalition of Shi'ite religious parties. Nor did he fare much better in the first full general election, in 2006. He then went into something of a funk. Even though he was an elected member of parliament, he showed no interest in playing a constructive role in opposition. Indeed, he was rarely in Baghdad at all, spending most of his time in Jordan and other Arab states. When I asked him about this in 2007, he cited concerns about his security...
...religious Shi'ite parties began to splinter, Allawi's political fortunes began to turn around. It helped, too, that his successors as Prime Minister - Ibrahim al-Jaafari and al-Maliki - were unable to deliver clean and efficient government. Allawi's party made a strong showing in last year's provincial elections, and that allowed him to unite a strong coalition of secular and Sunni parties under the Iraqi banner...