Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BAGHDAD891
2007-03-13 15:04:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

FORMER PROVINCIAL COUNCIL CHAIRMAN SAYS PROVINCIAL

Tags:  PGOV PINS IZ PINR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3922
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #0891/01 0721504
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 131504Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0173
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000891 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINS IZ PINR
SUBJECT: FORMER PROVINCIAL COUNCIL CHAIRMAN SAYS PROVINCIAL
GOVERNMENT DEEPLY FLAWED

Classified By: PRT Team Leader Joseph Gregoire for Reasons 1.4 (B) and
(D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000891

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINS IZ PINR
SUBJECT: FORMER PROVINCIAL COUNCIL CHAIRMAN SAYS PROVINCIAL
GOVERNMENT DEEPLY FLAWED

Classified By: PRT Team Leader Joseph Gregoire for Reasons 1.4 (B) and
(D).


1. (C) Summary: Provincial Council (PC) member Mazen Makiya
(Shia, Independent) told PRToffs March 9 that party politics,
poor leadership and lack of organization plague Baghdad's
provincial government. Makiya, who was PC Chairman from March
2005 to December 2005, said current PC Chairman Mueen
Al-Kadhimi (SCIRI) rules autocratically and allows sectarian
considerations to unduly influence his decision making. End
Summary.

Former PC Chairman Paints Bleak Picture of Council
-------------- --------------


2. (C) PC member Mazen Makiya told PRToffs March 9 that party
politics, poor leadership and lack of organization plague
Baghdad's provincial government. Makiya, who was the PC
Chairman from March 2005 to December 2005, said that
anti-Sunni bias routinely prevents constructive debate on
project proposals. Makiya added that the council's 28-
member Shia United Iraqi Alliance majority (composed of
SCIRI, Dawa, Fadhilah and Sadrist members) runs the council
essentially without opposition. (Note: Sunnis boycotted
January 2005 provincial elections. The Provincial Council is
comprised of 51 members, 49 of whom are Shia. One of the two
Sunni members elected as representatives of Allawi's List has
stopped working entirely and the other is a communist. End
note.)


3. (C) Makiya said closed lists during the last provincial
election brought to power a council whose members are
beholden to the parties that appointed them, rather than
qualified individuals dedicated to serving the public.


4. (C) Makiya said members routinely miss meetings due to
foreign travel, difficulties arriving to the PC building
because of security concerns, and general absenteeism.
Makiya, who chairs the council's Strategic Planning
Committee, said that less than half of his committee's
members usually show up for committee meetings. Makiya also
complained that repeated requests to the PC leadership for
basic equipment such as overhead projectors have been denied.



5. (C) Makiya said most PC members have hired staff based on
party affiliation rather than qualifications. The shortage
of professional technocrats hinders efficiency in PC work.

Makiya Criticizes Al-Kadhimi's Leadership
--------------


6. (C) Makiya told PRToffs that work is often stalled for
weeks at a time while current PC Chairman Mueen Al-Kadhimi
travels to Iran.


7. (C) Makiya claimed Al-Khadimi is an Iranian citizen who
lived in Iran for around 20 years. Makiya said Al-Kadhimi's
"unnaturally" close relationship with the Iranian regime
borders on treason. (Note: We do not know for certain that
Al-Kadhimi is an Iranian citizen or exactly how long he lived
in Iran, but we believe it was at least 10 years. Al-Kadhimi
dodges questions on the subject. End note.)

Sour Grapes?
--------------


8. (C) Makiya's comments on Al-Kadhimi are consistent with
what Baghdad PRT has seen but must be taken with a grain of
salt, since Makiya has some professional grievances against
Al-Kadhimi. Makiya was a Dawa member but withdrew from the
party in December 2005 to run for the Council of
Representatives on the National Democratic Alliance list.
Makiya was chosen as PC chairman in March 2005 as part of a
deal between Dawa (of which Makiya was a member at the time)
and SCIRI. The deal was that a Dawa member would fill the
chairmanship and a SCIRI member would be deputy chairman.
When Makiya withdrew from Dawa, SCIRI members of the PC
complained that deal was null and void and voted Al-Kadhimi
into the position.

Comments
--------------


9. (C) Makiya's comments track with some problems Baghdad PRT
has observed, including poor leadership and general
disorganization. PRToffs frequently find various PC meetings
poorly attended or cancelled altogether.


10. (C) PRToffs can confirm that PC Chairman Al-Khadhimi
frequently travels to Iran and is often gone for weeks at a
time, during which PC work stalls. Al-Kadhimi's first of two

BAGHDAD 00000891 002 OF 002


wives lives in Tehran. When he last returned to Baghdad from
Tehran in early March, he had been in Iran for at least four
weeks and on the Haj in Saudi Arabia for about two weeks
before that. Other PC members hesitate to make decisions in
Al-Kadhimi's absence. End Comments.

SPECKHARD