Iraqiya List Frays As Constituents Splinter
As Iraq continues to struggle with widespread anti-government protests, the prominent Sunni Iraqiya list has gone through a series of defections that have dealt a serious blow to its influence, writes Ali Abel Sadah.
Sunni politicians of the Iraqiya list, led by Ayad Allawi, have deemed Saleh al-Mutlaq, head of the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, a traitor, particularly since he shifted his stance on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, recently decided to return to the cabinet, and held ministerial seats that once belonged to the rest of the Iraqiya factions.
Yet, the exchange of accusations between Sunni leaders in Iraq does not eliminate the bitter truth, from which the political faction that represents them has suffered for years. Since the 2010 legislative elections, the Iraqiya bloc has sustained harsh blows and defections that have undermined its strength in the face of its Shiite rival, Maliki.
Haidar al-Mulla, a leader from the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, led by Mutlaq, was clear in a new conference that Al-Monitor attended, saying: “The Iraqiya bloc is dead.”
Mulla, a spokesman for the Iraqiya bloc, believes that religious forces seized control of decision-making in the list. In light of the almost total absence of secular leader Ayad Allawi, Islamist leaders — which took the reins of the bloc — have emerged. Among them: Rafi al-Issawi, a leader of Hamas al-Iraq, and Osama al-Nujaifi, who has a devout Sunni audience in Iraq.
