DA,WA PARTY CONFERENCE STRESSES NATIONAL UNITY AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002245 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/19/2019 TAGS: PGOV IZ SUBJECT: DA,WA PARTY CONFERENCE STRESSES NATIONAL UNITY AND SOVEREIGNTY WHILE A DA,WA-ISCI COALITION TENUOUS REF: A. BAGHDAD 83 ¶B. BAGHDAD 2159 ¶C. BAGHDAD 2105 ¶D. BAGHDAD 2222 Classified By: Political Counselor Yuri Kim for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) . ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: PM Maliki was reelected as his party's secretary-general during Da'wa's biennial convention August 13-15. GOI President Talibani and most members of the Iraqi Cabinet attended the opening ceremony, which emphasized the themes of national unity and Iraqi sovereignty. While hedging his bets, Maliki appears to be moving ahead with his stated commitment to a "nationalist" coalition (albeit one with him at the helm) and willingness to break from the United Iraqi Coalition (UIC). Sadiq Rikabi, a key advisor to Maliki, told emboffs August 16 that Da'wa members were leaning against staying with the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) and the Sadr Trend in a broad Shi'a coalition, but the party did not want to be held responsible for an intra-Shi'a schism. END SUMMARY. NUTS AND BOLTS PARTY CONVENTION -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Da'wa Party held its regular biennial conference August 13-15 at the al-Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad. President Talabani and PM Maliki were the keynote speakers at the opening ceremony of the conference, while FM Zebari read a brief message from Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Ma'asoud Barzani. The Prime Minister's religious advisor, Imam Hussein al-Shami, and Talabani paid tribute to Mohamed Baqir al-Sadr (Muqtada al-Sadr's uncle) as the central unifying figure for Iraqis in opposition to the previous regime. (NOTE: Parliament Speaker Ayad al-Samarraie was scheduled to deliver an address at the opening, but apparently bowed out before the written program could be changed. END NOTE.) ¶3. (SBU) During closed sessions August 14-15, the party re-elected PM Maliki as Secretary General and selected a 12-person "leadership council" in addition to a 50-member consultative "Shura Council." The leadership council will be headed by Da'wa parliamentary group leader Ali al-Adeeb and spokesman Haider al-Abadi (head of the parliamentary economic committee). The convention did not appear to result in any significant change the party. PM CONFIDENT BUT DA'WA UNDECIDED WHETHER TO JOIN THE SHI'A COALITION -------------- ¶4. (U) On August 16, the PM's office released a transcript of Maliki's discussion with editors from leading Egyptian newspapers. Maliki told these journalists that the alliances formed for Iraq's 2005 elections "were of a sectarian nature...whether we liked it or not, the situation at the time may have required them." He added that he would participate in the State of Law coalition (created in late 2008 to contest provincial elections) for the January 2010 vote if Da'wa could not reach an agreement with other Shia-led parties to re-form the UIC (ref A). ¶5. (C) PM Maliki's senior political advisor, Sadiq Rikabi, told emboffs on August 16 that "the general trend" among the Da'wa party's membership is to break away from the UIC (ref B),although only the party's leadership will decide what electoral coalition to join. He predicted that a massive propaganda campaign could be directed at the Iraqi Shi'a community in an effort to manipulate sectarian concerns and fear of Ba'ath Party resurgence if Da'wa rejects its former UIC partners (ref B). Rikabi commented that Iraqi Shi'a might be bombarded by "Maliki has left you for the Ba'athists" messages and added that the party's Qfor the Ba'athists" messages and added that the party's leadership didn't want to be blamed for causing a schism within the Shi'a community. ¶6. (C) Asked about Iran's involvement in coalition negotiations, Rikabi asserted that Iran is "very active in its diplomatic efforts" to revive a united Shi'a electoral alliance. He added that Tehran was urging Da'wa and other Shia parties to stay together in order to counter Saudi Arabia's attempts to prevent Iraqi Shi'a from leading the next national government. ¶7. (C) Da'wa members consistently tell us that the party's BAGHDAD 00002245 002 OF 002 reluctance to join the UIC stems from the PM's belief that that coalition is not capable of fostering a nationalist, cross-sectarian alliance (ref C). However, it appears that ISCI and the Sadr Trend, the two largest component parties of the UIC, are actively pushing back against Da'wa's reported demand for the premiership and more than 25 percent of parliamentary seats, as a result of its strong performance in 2009 provincial elections. President Talabani told the Ambassador that ISCI and the Sadrists refuse to accept Maliki as PM (ref D). ¶8. (C) COMMENT: While many of Maliki's advisors and party members worry about the Shi'a community's reaction to an intra-Shi'a split, PM's public statements appear to reflect his increasing confidence in his ability to leave the UIC and assemble a successful cross-sectarian alliance under the State of Law banner. END COMMENT. HILL