One of the largest and most powerful political groups in Iraq began a boycott of Parliament on Saturday, signalling fresh waves of political dysfunction that threaten to unravel Iraq's year-old governing coalition just days after the formal end to the American military mission in Baghdad.
The standoff pits Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, against one of his most nettlesome partners in Iraq's government, the Iraqiya coalition, a multi-sectarian group with wide support among secular Iraqis and Sunni Muslims. In announcing its boycott, the Iraqiya accused Maliki's government of arbitrarily arresting aides and security guards who work for Iraqiya leaders, and blamed him for failing to stem a recent welter of unrest in the largely Sunni province of Diyala. Local leaders in Diyala recently voted to seek more autonomy from the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, a move that provoked unruly demonstrations, mostly by Shiites.
The dispute raises questions about who holds power in Iraq and the credibility of its security forces and due process — fundamental problems facing a country whose leaders and communities remain divided along lines of religious sect and ethnicity. It also comes just three days after President Barack Obama said in a speech at Fort Bragg that U.S. troops were leaving behind an Iraq with a representative government that was “stable and self-reliant.”
“Our fear is, what's going to happen now to the people of Iraq after the American withdrawal,” said Naheda Daini, one of about 90 Iraqiya lawmakers who joined the boycott, and who are threatening to resign within two weeks if the government does not respond to their complaints.
An Iraqi government spokesman did not respond to requests for comment on the arrests or political turmoil. But lawmakers from Mr. al-Maliki's State of Law coalition criticised the timing of the walkout, and said they hoped their colleagues would return to Parliament.
The moves and statements by Iraqiya may amount to little more than posturing by a discontented political faction, but U.S. officials in Baghdad have rushed to defuse any situation that could deepen the divide between a Shiite Prime Minister and a largely Sunni coalition of lawmakers.
The U.S. ambassador, James F. Jeffrey, has raced to ease the political crisis. On Thursday and Friday, U.S. officials contacted senior Iraqi political figures to try to establish the facts concerning the detentions, urge restraint and exhort the parties to support the vision of a pluralistic and democratic Iraq. In Washington, Vice President Joe Biden called Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan regional government, and Osama al-Nujaifi, the speaker of Iraq's parliament, a Sunni Muslim.
In an apparent effort to play down the significance of the confrontation in Iraq, a statement issued by the White House late Friday night alluded to the problems in vague terms, noting that Mr. Biden had discussed “the current political climate in Baghdad” while repeating the Obama administration's support for “an inclusive partnership government.”
Throughout Saturday morning, a bell rang through the windowless basement hallways of the Parliament building, summoning members to a session. The lawmakers in the Iraqiya offices ignored it, lighting cigarettes and stirring tiny glass urns of tea as they grumbled about Mr. al-Maliki's government and discussed how to spin their next moves.
“We don't want to create a crisis, but the other party wants to control the security forces and the ministries,” said Nabil Harbou, an Iraqiya lawmaker from the northern city of Mosul. “We will give Maliki another chance, but his time is running out.” — New York Times News Service
