IRAQI PM CHIEF OF STAFF PROVIDES HIS THOUGHTS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000313 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL IZ SUBJECT: IRAQI PM CHIEF OF STAFF PROVIDES HIS THOUGHTS ON CABINET RESHUFFLE Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad per 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Tariq Abdullah provided his thoughts on changing the composition of the Cabinet to the Mission's PM Office Liaison on January 24. Abdullah said the Prime Minister is considering either forming a new government or replacing about half of his ministers, to include the Sadrist ministers, the Ministers of Defense, Interior, Finance, Oil, and Foreign Affairs, and four Tawafuq ministers. Abdullah recommended a possible candidate for a Sadrist ministry and noted the Prime Minister was open for suggestions for candidates. END SUMMARY. -------------- Option One: Form a New Cabinet -------------- ¶2. (C) Abdullah said the Prime Minister envisioned two options: forming a new government or making a more limited cabinet shuffle. Abdullah said the Prime Minister preferred to form a new government if the various political factions would agree. According to Abdullah, Maliki would remove the Ministries of Health, Transportation, and Foreign Affairs from the political quota system and allocate them on a non-partisan basis, similar to the Ministries of Defense and Interior. Abdullah said Maliki believes the Ministries of Health, Transportation, and Foreign Affairs are currently mismanaged. -------------- -------------- Option Two: Change Specific Problematic Ministers -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) If forming a new government is not feasible, Maliki would like to change about half of the ministers in his cabinet. Abdullah said the Prime Minister would change all the Sadrist ministers. He would also change the Ministers Defense, Interior, Finance, and Oil. Maliki would allow current Minister of Finance Bayan Jabr to remain in the cabinet if he were changed to Minister of Housing, and he prefers having Transitional Government Minister of Finance Ali Allawi return to the ministry. ¶4. (C) According to Abdullah, Maliki would like to replace four ministers belonging to Tawafuq. Maliki would like to replace Deputy Prime Minister for Services Salam al-Zawba'I, because he is has not been been able to forge a working relationship with Zawba'i and accuses him of gross mismanagement. Maliki would like to replace the Minister of Culture Asad al-Hashemi, who he says is accused of having links to terrorists. Abdullah said Maliki also would replace the Ministers of Higher Education and Foreign Affairs for poor performance. ¶5. (C) Abdullah said Maliki also would like to change the Kurdish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hoshayr Zebari. According to Abdullah, Maliki thinks Zebari's travels have not benefited Iraq. Maliki also thinks the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not provided the necessary support and articulation of Iraq's policies, and has suffered from Zebari's constant absences and poor management. -------------- Nominee for a Sadrist Ministry -------------- ¶6. (C) Abdullah noted the Prime Minister is open to suggestions for nominations for posts. He suggested the current Baghdad Deputy Mayor for Municipal Affairs Naeem Aboob as a potential replacement for one of the Sadrist ministers. According to Abdullah, Aboob is the top Sadrist at city hall and is a very popular member of the Baghdad Provincial Council. Abdullah said Aboob has been the lead advocate for cooperation with the Baghdad PRT despite constant pressures from the Sadrists to stop his cooperation. Abdullah said he has known Aboob for approximately two years and believes he will be a professional and cooperative minister. Abdullah added he would be a good candidate for the Minister of Agriculture or Transportation because of his technical training and professional experience. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) The Prime Minister has lamented his inability to choose his own ministers and has been discussing cabinet changes since at least September. However, the political parties view the ministries as political entitlements and as sources of patronage, and under Iraq's Constitution, the Council of Representatives must approve both dismissal and appointment of ministers, in effect requiring political BAGHDAD 00000313 002 OF 002 consensus for cabinet changes. During Abdullah's recent visit to Washington, he told US diplomats the Prime Minister asked in December for the parties to give him names of possible replacements for various ministers. Maliki gave the parties a ten-day deadline, but they did not respond. Nevertheless, Maliki and Abdullah have not pushed the parties for names. SPECKHARD