This blog post was published on July 31 2011. §
Iraq: The stink of government corruption
Despite that the MP Hanan Al-Fatlawi provided solid evidence on the administrative corruption and violations committed by the Independent Electoral Commission [watch the shocking clip: Fatlawi counts the corruptions inside (IHEC)], it seems that the failure to freeze (IHEC) was a shock to Maliki and his “State of Law”.
Judging the parliament meeting to withdraw confidence from (IHEC), we can say that it was an exceptional by any standard.
For the first time we witnessed a split in the positions within the “Iraqi National Alliance” (“State of Law” and “Iraqi National Coalition”), significant powers within the Alliance (Virtue Party, Islamic Supreme Council and the Sadrists Al-Ahrar Bloc, the Sadrists already signed an agreement with Maliki to withdraw confidence from (IHEC)) voted against the law. Consequently, the rumors on fragility of this alliance has became a reality.
Perhaps the other exception is that for the first time we saw a “semi-alliance” in the parliament among components of some of the “National Alliance”, the Kurdistan Alliance and the “Iraqyia List” rejecting the law
But from another point of view represented by the forces that rejected the parliamentary vote of no confidence, it is more than just a financial and administrative violations, fear that the no-confidence decision “will resolve the Commission and without creating an alternative”, means an attempt to block all efforts of change through early elections call or the desire of some to form “federal regions”, or even come up with a new (IHEC) not subjected to the Maliki’s influence.
Summarizes some of what happened in last Thursady’s session with the phrase: “The fear of Maliki’s manipulation of power.”