Contact Admin. Iraq's provincial elections show that the ground is shifting underneath the country's fledgling post-Saddam order. The grip on power exercised by pro-federalist groups - the Kurdish parties and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq ISCI - over the past six years is being loosened by an ad hoc coalition of forces that favour a strengthening of the central state.
Their standard bearer is Nouri al Maliki, the prime minister, whose appointment in resulted from a compromise when neither ISCI nor its Sadrist rivals were able to impose their own as head of government and whose convincing showing in the provincial polls has given the anti-federalists new momentum. Mr Maliki won in part because of a mixture of nationalist rhetoric and military moves that angered the Kurds as much as it pleased many ordinary Arab Iraqis.
With parliamentary elections on the horizon within a year, Mr Maliki's recipe of confronting the federalists will produce further tensions with the Kurds, who have enjoyed a rare period of peace at home and great influence in Baghdad. In the past year Mr Maliki launched a campaign to roll back Kurdish power - constitutional, institutional and territorial.
In August he sent government forces into areas in the Diyala governorate claimed by the Kurds - disputed territories, according to the constitution, many of which contain oil or gas. Login Signup. Signup Login Contact Admin. Berta 32 Kirkuk. Verified profile. Mirabella 19 Iraq. Nicole 24 Kirkuk. Only for everything else like: dinners, parties, hugs, nightclubs, ceremonies, trips, chats talks , walks etc.
Angelica 18 Kirkuk. My purpose in life is to remind you and show you that some of us actually enjoy providing you a service. Maria 30 Obscure.
