AN ODE TO COR SPEAKER MASHADANI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000786

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/08/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR IZ
SUBJECT: AN ODE TO COR SPEAKER MASHADANI

REF: A. 2007 BAGHDAD 1934

B. 2007 BAGHDAD 2411

C. 2007 BAGHDAD 2823

D. COR REPORT FEBRUARY 12

Classified By: Political Counselor Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d)


1. (C/NF) Summary: CoR Speaker Mahmoud Mashadani is becoming
more comfortable in his role as leader of Iraq's parliament,
though he continues to breed controversy on a regular basis
and is prone to emotional outbursts in the CoR chamber.
Behind the scenes, Mashadani has become a legislative "deal
maker." His ability to pull off the passage of a three law
package on February 13 (amnesty law, 2008 budget, and
provincial powers) testifies to his skill at negotiating
agreements between bloc leaders. While his management of CoR
sessions rubs some the wrong way, he pushes MPs to work
harder, sometimes threatening to dock salaries if MPs are not
present. In the past six months, he has become more focused
on legislative progress and results. On a biographic note,
Mashadani fancies himself something of a poet, a hobby that
his fellow MPs sometimes rib him about. End summary.

MASHADANI BOUNCES BACK
--------------


2. (C/NF) Mashadani is a master at both breeding and
deflecting conflict. He wears his troubled past proudly, and
joked with his Second Deputy Arif Teyfour months ago, "I used
to be a 'terrorist,' but look at me now." He has a strong
propensity to annoy and anger CoR members, particularly the
Kurds and Sadrists. Mashadani was almost ousted last year
(June 2007) as a result of an altercation between his
security detail and another MP (ref A). The attempt to
remove him reflected cumulative frustration with Mashadani's
brusque manner, combative outbursts, and even physical
violence (i.e. slapping a member). However, the seemingly
teflon-coated Speaker bounced back in fine form. On July 19
he was back in the Speaker's Chair, and his return was
accompanied by the Sunni Tawafuq bloc (and the Sadrists two
days earlier) (ref B). How Mashadani was able to keep his
Presidency of the CoR remains a mystery to most MPs. One MP
(Safia Souhail) told PolOff Ayad Sammarie was set to replace
Mashadani before a "deal was made." (ref C)


3. (C/NF) History almost repeated itself for Mashadani during
the last few days of the most recent legislative session,
which ended February 13, 2008 with the passage of the amnesty
law, 2008 budget, and provincial powers law. On the eve of
February 12, the CoR continued a session from earlier in the
day, but Mashadani's call to vote on the amnesty law as a
whole after it was read item-by-item threw the entire chamber
into chaos (ref D). The Dawa Bloc leader (Ali Al-Adeeb)
yelled, "This was not the deal," and minutes later a walkout
caused a loss of quorum. That night the Sadrists held a
press conference to dissolve the CoR and elect a new one.
One Kurd, Bari Zibari (PUK) told PolOff that the Kurds blamed
Mashadani's behavior for the breakdown since everyone, he
said, "knew the deal was to read through each law
item-by-item and then vote on the three as a whole." He
added the Kurds, out of frustration, wanted to either get rid
of Mashadani or change the entire CoR Presidency Council, or
simply dissolve the CoR altogether.


4. (C/NF) Even on February 13, the day of the successful
three-law passage, a young, angry Sadrist charged the
leadership podium and threw his fists at Mashadani's face --
missing by mere inches -- during the controversial vote on
whether to hold provincial elections by October 1, 2008.
This followed a dispute on the vote count which caused chaos
to ensue for over ten minutes among all the bloc leaders and
members, but Mashadani and CoR Deputy Speaker Khalid Attiyah
ultimately restored peace and announced the provision passed.
Had the Sadrist's fist edged just a few inches closer and
seriously hurt Mashadani, it is possible the fate of the
legislation (and the CoR) that day would have moved in a much
different direction. However, given the success, Speaker
Mashadani - as well as the whole CoR Presidency Council - are
now considered heroes for achieving such miraculous
legislative results. How Mashadani and his two deputies
manage the veto of the provincial powers law, which occurred
February 26, and push forward other important pieces of
legislation (i.e. hydrocarbon law) will be a real test of
their leadership.

MASHADANI GROWS INTO HIS LEADERSHIP ROLE
--------------


5. (C/NF) While Mashadani is still a little rough around the
edges, he is beginning to grow into his Speaker role.
Shepherding the passage of the budget package took

BAGHDAD 00000786 002 OF 002


considerable negotiating skill. Compared to six months ago,
he is more focused on passing legislation and talks a great
deal about serving the needs of the Iraqi people. He is also
more cooperative in general, both with embassy interlocutors
and with other MPs in listening to ideas and disagreements.
He also tries to press the CoR members to accomplish more
each day. During the week leading up to the successful
passage of the three laws on February 13, he encouraged
members to also take up second readings on other pieces of
legislation. He may have reached the moment, where he feels
he has "arrived" as a leader and is less insecure.
Especially during the last days of this past CoR session, he
also seemed to be working more hand-in-hand with his two
deputies - First CoR Deputy Speaker Khalid Attiyah and Arif
Teyfour.

MASHADANI'S SOFTER SIDE
--------------


6. (C/NF) An amateur poet, Mashadani has published a book of
poetry that can be found lying around the CoR in various
places. Most of the poems are about his affection for his
wife and daughter. Some people compliment his poetry.
Others, however, make fun of Mashadani's status as a poet:
one MP told us Mashadani should leave his CoR Speaker
position and "run off to the hills" to write poetry. The
back cover of Mashadani's book features a picture of the poet
looking deep in thought with his hand on his forehead and
rays of light emanating in every direction. He wrote his
current poetry book in 2005 while imprisoned in Abu Ghraib
and claims he had to "smuggle" it out with him. He wrote
three other books of poetry, which were destroyed in raids
against his home. He was born in 1948 and deeply cared about
political issues in his youth. He graduated from the College
of Medicine of Baghdad in 1972 and then joined the army as a
physician with the rank of first lieutenant. In 1980, he was
arrested for political reasons, but charges were dismissed
after two years. He was again arrested for his political
activities in 2000 and convicted for fifteen years, but was
released as part of an amnesty arrangement. He was arrested
in 2005 as part of the armed resistance. He was elected
Speaker by the CoR in 2006.
CROCKER