by David Kavanagh

In what the White House calls a “major step forward in uniting” Iraq, Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has finally given in to international and domestic pressure and withdrawn his candidacy.

He will be replaced by Haider al-Abadi, a former exile turned politician backed by both the US government and a large percentage of the Iraqi population desperately seeking reform.

If the transition goes smoothly and Abadi performs as expected, this dramatic turn of events could help bring an end to the Islamic State’s (IS) violent onslaught in the North of the country and lead to monumental positive change for Iraq and its people in the future. God knows they need it.

Change from what?

Throughout his entire 8 years in office, Maliki was heavily criticised for his personal arrogance and divisive policies. As always, Shiite-Sunni relations are a key part of this discussion, so if you’re unfamiliar with what this means, read this snippet from one of my previous posts – Iraq Explained (Part 1):

What Catholicism and Protestantism are to Christianity, Shi’a and Sunni are to Islam. They are the two major Islamic denominations with somewhat similar but separate ideologies and beliefs… The sad truth is that they’ve been natural rivals for a very long time and this has greatly contributed to the tension and violence that erupts in countries like Iraq… Statistically, in Iraq in particular, around 60 – 65% of the population (the majority) are Arab Shi’a and 15 – 20% are Arab Sunnis. Then you’ve also got the Iraqi Kurds, an ethnic group that makes up around 17% of the population and is predominantly Sunni.

A Shiite by birth, Maliki constantly and deliberately fuelled these perennial sectarian divisions by alienating and expelling Kurdish and Sunni politicians from his Shiite-dominated government.

He even went so far as to purge the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) of most of its Sunni personnel, thereby weakening the army and rendering Iraq evermore vulnerable to violent jihadist aggression.

According to some commentators, IS, the Sunni militant group steadily laying waste to areas throughout Syria and Iraq in an effort to establish a caliphate (or State) ruled by strict Sharia law, were only able to capture Mosul a few months ago and rise to such prominence because of Maliki’s expulsions.

Many Sunnis were also so fed up with the Maliki administration that they let the Sunni extremist group take over without a fight.

Since IS’ ‘invasion’ of Iraq, US Secretary of State, John Kerry, has continuously stated that America would only provide assistance if Iraq’s divided parliament first helped itself by making efforts towards internal reunification.

Although he was incredibly reluctant at first (it even looked like there would be a coup at one point), Maliki recently glumly expressed his acquiescence and stepped down.

With him gone, the administration may be substantially more capable to deal with the serious threats its people currently face.

But will Haider al-Abadi be able to undo years of political infighting?

Both the UN and the US certainly seem to think so (or at least they think he’ll do a better job than Maliki).

Following the changes, US President Barack Obama declared: “We are urging Iraqis to come together to turn the tide against ISIL (Islamic State) by seizing the enormous opportunity of forming a new inclusive government under the leadership of prime minister-designate”.

Born in Baghdad, Iraq’s capital, in 1952, Haider al-Abadi and his family were forced into exile following the rise of Saddam Hussein and his discriminatory Baathist regime.

Returning around the time of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Abadi first stepped onto the political arena as the Iraqi Governing Council’s Minister of Communications.

What’s interesting to note is that Abadi, like Maliki, is a Shiite, and even served as one of Maliki’s key advisers for some time.

However, it seems that his sectarian sentiments are no where near as militant as Malikis were.

Although Abadi has been a part of a number of disputes with the Kurdish community, his overall outlook seems to be indiscriminate and pragmatic.

In an exclusive interview with Huffington Post UK, Abadi expressed his belief that the government “has to listen to the grievances” of members of the disaffected Sunni population if any improvements are to be made.

He also pronounced that the Iraqi parliament should not condone sectarian disputes since that’s exactly what IS wants. A divided government is, after all, a weak one.

He finished with something I think we all needed to hear plainly: “Shias are not against Sunnis and Sunnis are not against Shias”.

So long as he sticks with these ideas, Iraq’s future looks a little more promising. Again, we’ll have to wait and see.

Do you think Abadi will have a positive influence in Iraq?

Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

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