DISCUSSIONS CONTINUE ON GOVERNMENT POSITIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001540

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2016
TAGS: PGOV PNAT ECON KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: DISCUSSIONS CONTINUE ON GOVERNMENT POSITIONS

REF: BAGHDAD 1484

Classified By: Political Counselor Robert S. Ford for
reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (C) Summary. The day before PM-designate al-Maliki's
May 9 target date for announcement of the new government,
debate among and within political blocs continued over key
positions. Tawafuq appears to have settled on Agriculture
specialist (and Adnan al-Dulaimi ally) Salam Zakam al-Zuba'i
as its candidate for a DPM position. However, Tawafuq,
National Dialogue Front (Hewar) and Iraqiyya continue to
negotiate amongst themselves on the division of ministries
and names of candidates. Capitalizing on Shia unhappiness
with Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari's stewardship, Salih
Mutlak is conducting a full court press to secure the bid
for Foreign Minister. However, there is no indication that
the Kurds are prepared to give up this position. Within
the Shia coalition, the Fadhila party continues to fight to
retain control of the Ministry of Oil. As expected, it is
unlikely that Maliki will reach his self-imposed May 9
deadline. That said, we do see gradual progress towards
completion of the cabinet. End Summary.

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Tawafuq/Iraqiya/Hewar Agreement Still Outstanding
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2. (C) An agreement between Tawafuq, Iraqiya and Hewar on
specific division of posts has not yet been reached though
negotiations continue. IIP's Ala Mekki reported to Poloff
May 8 that Tawafuq appears to have settled on proposing
Salam Zakam al-Zuba'i for a Deputy Prime Minister slot.
Zuba'i is a member of Adnan Dulaymi's Gathering of the
Iraqi People. If Zuba'i gets the deputy prime
ministership, this would set the stage for Ayad Allawi to
accept the post of Secretary General of the National Policy
Council. However, Iraqiyya and Tawafuq have not yet
reached agreement on the division of other ministries among
themselves. Iraqiyya's Saad al-Janabi told Poloff on May 8
that Allawi will propose candidates for the ministries of
Defense, Communication, Trade, Culture, Government and
Youth and Sports. Allawi may also propose Adnan al-Janabi
as a candidate for Foreign Minister should an independent
Arab Sunni be sought for the position. (Note: Such a
nomination could falter as Janabi was disqualified from the
CoR by the De-Ba'thification Committee. End note.)


3. (C) Hewar's Saleh Mutlak continues to publicly insist on
either the Deputy PM slot or the Foreign Affairs Ministry
for himself, neither of which are likely. He told Poloff
on May 8 that an independent Sunni Arab should lead the
Foreign Ministry and claimed that he is the ideal
candidate. He asserted that PM-designee Nuri al-Maliki had
told him that he would not object to his nomination and
would like to see a Sunni Arab in the Foreign Ministry
slot. Mutlak also claimed that Tawafuq leaders Adnan al-
Dulaymi, Tariq al-Hashimi and Sheykh Khalaf Alayan back his
bid. Poloff asked if these private expressions of support
are serious and if Mutlak's bid for this top policy
position was not irreparably damaged by his often
inflammatory public statements. Mutlak conceded that
support may not be firm but said the position is a red line
for him and he would accept nothing less. (Note: We
continue to believe that Mutlak will be willing to accept a
lesser ministry rather than to go into opposition. End
note.) Mutlak also expressed interest in the ministries of
Agriculture, Trade, and Electricity along with the
leadership of the Commission on Public Integrity.

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New Guy in the Bloc
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4. (C) In a May 7 meeting with PolOff, Fadhila party
spokesperson Basim Sherif Nasif al-Hechaimi and Hassan
Halbos al-Shemmari, a well-connected Fadhila
parliamentarian, admitted that even though the Shia
Coalition has yet to decide which ministry will go to which
Shia coalition political party, Fadhila still expects to
retain the Ministry of Oil (MoO). Shemmeri informed
PolOffs that Acting Oil Minister Hashim al-Hashimi is not
Fadhila's top choice for Minister of Oil; instead, it is
Hussein Suleiman Mohamed. (Mohammed is a 34 year old
engineer employed at the Oil Ministry who works for al-
Hashimi.) Shemmeri insisted that Mohammed is firmly under
Fadhila's control but would be open to technical assistance
from the US oil experts. Shemmeri provided PolOffs with a
copy of Mohammed's resume and college transcript and
offered PolOffs full biographies on technical advisors they
have contacted to "surround" Mohammed. He briefly outlined

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Fadhila's plans to increase oil production and proposed oil
legislation to regulate foreign investment.

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Corruption not our fault
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5. (C) Shemmeri explained that the Fadhila party
inherited MoO Ibrahim Bahr al-'Ulum and should not be
blamed for his mismanagement of the Ministry. Hechaimi
reminded PolOffs that soon after they discovered pervasive
administrative corruption, they were quick to remove him
from office. Shemmeri pointed out that the constitution
stipulates that a replacement minister must be of minister
or deputy minister rank. This limited Fadhila's choices,
so it decided to pluck Hashim al-Hashimi from the Ministry
of Tourism and Antiquities and place him in the MoO slot.
Shemmari emphasized that Fadhila was against corruption in
the Ministry, had fought it and was entirely within its
rights to claim the Oil Ministry again.


6. (C) Al-Shemmeri said he was confident that a deal
could be made to get Hussein Shahristani, Maliki's favored
Oil Minister candidate, to keep MoO in Fadhila hands.
Echoing other Fadhila contacts (see septel),Shemmeri
accused the Embassy of unfairly backing Iraqi Interim
Government Oil Minister Thamer Ghadban for the position.
PolOff replied that the U.S. would prefer that a competent,
experienced, candidate be chosen. On May 8, newly
appointed Fadhila deputy General Secretary Ali al-Dabbagh
told PolOff that he was trying to persuade the rest of the
party leadership to back Thamer Ghadban as their own
choice.

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Comment
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7. (C) The squabbling over positions within the various
blocs is not surprising given (a) many of the negotiators
are new to the game of assembling a government and (b) they
perceive that their choices now will likely last four
years. Our sense is that PM-designate will not reach his
self-imposed deadline of May 9 which never seemed realistic
anyway given Iraqi political realities. We also sense that
step-by-step progress towards assembling Maliki's cabinet
is being achieved. Like so much else in Iraq, it often
moves more slowly than many would like.
KHALILZAD