IRAQI PARLIAMENT SPEAKER'S STATEMENTS CAUSE SOME

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000398

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/06/2017
TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQI PARLIAMENT SPEAKER'S STATEMENTS CAUSE SOME
TO CALL FOR HIS REMOVAL (AGAIN)

Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Charles O Blaha, for reasons
1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) According to a February 6 Baghdadiyah TV report, both
Firyad Rawanduzi of the Kurdish Alliance (KAL) and Shia
Independent Sami Al-Askari (Shiite, Da'awa) made statements
on a 'consensus' reached by the Council of Representatives
(CoR) blocs to replace Sunni Speaker Mashadani.
Conversations with CoR bloc contacts indicate, however, that
while there is general frustration with Mashadani's style as
Speaker, there is no official consensus on replacing him.
(Note: In order to replace Mashadani, an absolute majority
must vote for his removal, and an absolute majority of the
CoR must approve the new Speaker. End note).


2. (C) CoR members frequently complain about Mashadani's
often unprofessional manner of running CoR sessions. Most
recently on February 4, Mashadani raised the ire of many
Shiite Itilaf CoR members when gave a spontaneous monologue
on the security situation rather than reading a "Statement
from the Presidency Council" (as was on the agenda),and
later proceeded to read a letter he had received from
unspecified tribal sheikhs in Najaf. The letter insinuated
that the ISF operations that took place in Najaf during
Ashoura celebrations were anti-Arab. He then got into a
shouting match with Sami al-Askari (independent, Shi'a
coalition),who asked him to manage the sessions objectively
rather than interjecting his personal opinion. Shiite UIA
walked out and threatened to "not return until Mashadani was
gone." Their bloc leadership was only placated after a
series of negotiations where Mashadani promised to read a
statement offering a different point of view on the Najaf
incident (and condemning Mashadani personally),followed by a
reconciliatory Sunni Tawafuq statement read by Osama
Al-Tikriti.


3. (C) CoR members often cite the Speaker's apparent lack of
interest in managing the legislative process (he frequently
leaves in the middle of legislative deliberations, leaving
Deputy Khalid Attiya to preside over sessions),his abrupt
responses to criticism, and his use of the CoR floor as a
platform to express personal political views as evidence of
his unsuitability for the job. In private, Tawafuq members
acknowledge the same and express a desire to replace him.
They say they are
restrained by the fact that there is no one else from Sheikh
Khalaf Al-Ulayan's more hard-line Sunni National Dialogue
Council (the party that "controls" the Speaker slot) who is
palatable to the rest of the blocs. (Note: There was a push
in mid-August 2006 to unseat Mashadani, however it subsided
during the CoR's summer recess and in view of the lack of a
viable replacement. End note.)
KHALILZAD