Iraq Has 3rd Candidate For Premier

Intelligence chief Kazemi officially accepts the nomination to be the next premier candidate from Pres Salah (Reuters)

In November 2019 Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi resigned due to protests against the Iraqi establishment. There has been a leadership gap as no replacement has successfully been able to form a government since then. The third candidate was just named at the start of April Mustafa al-Kazemi who is the head of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service. After the previous two failed nominations there is widespread skepticism that Kazemi will be successful, although so far he has garnered support from most of the ruling parties.

Kazemi was named as prime minister designate because of opposition to his predecessor Adnan al-Zurfi. Zurfi was considered too close to the Americans leading the Fatah list to come out against him. Speaker of Parliament Mohammed al-Halbusi also rejected him. Fatah, State of Law, Hikma, and Fadhila named Kazemi as an alternative on April 6 after a meeting at the home of Fatah and Badr head Hadi Amiri in Baghdad. That was ironic because several parties associated with Fatah rejected Kazemi as a candidate a few weeks before accusing him of taking part in the American assassination of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander General Qasim Suleimani and the deputy head of the Hashd Commission Abu Muhandis. Now parties appear to be rallying behind him. That includes Iyad Allawi’s Iraqiya, Speaker Halbusi’s Iraqi Forces list, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Moqtada al-Sadr’s Sairoon, Kataib al-Imam Ali a Hashd unit aligned with Iran, along with Iran itself. The only party explicitly against Kazemi is Kataib Hezbollah who said his nomination was a conspiracy against Iraq that could lead to war. That is far more support that the other two candidates which raises hopes that Kazemi will succeed where they failed.

Kazemi was a member of the Iraqi opposition during Saddam’s time. He fled to London and wrote for several media outlets. After 2003 he was part of Kanan Makiya’s Iraqi Memory Foundation that collected captured Baathist documents. He was later made the head of the intelligence service in 2016. He was obviously well connected to one ruling party or another to be picked for such an important position with no experience in the field.

Despite the support that Kazemi has garnered so far there is still some question about whether he will get a cabinet past the parliament. That’s in part based upon the fact that there have already been two failed attempts by others. It’s also widely believed that parties close to Iran want to maintain the status quo so that retired prime minister Adil Abdul Mahdi can stay in office. He largely gave those groups free reign. Kazemi also has ties to the United States, which was the death knell for his predecessor, although he also worked with Iran during the war against the Islamic State. Iraq will soon know whether he has enough backing to complete a government as he only has 30 days to do so.

SOURCES

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Asharq Al-Awsat,” Iraq’s Kazemi Promoted as the Sole Alternative to Zurfi,” 4/8/20

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Al Ghad Press, “The Wisdom Stream announces its support for the Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kazemi,” 4/9/20

Lawk, Ghafuri, “Iraqi political parties rally around spy chief as preferred PM,” Rudaw, 4/8/20

Al Mada, “5 Shiite blocs nominate Al-Kazemi to block the Prime Minister-designate,” 4/6/20

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Al Monitor, “Iraq’s president taps intelligence chief to form new government,” Al Monitor, 4/9/20

NINA, “Al-Amiri: The largest bloc took its right, and we will support Al-Kadhemi in forming the government,” 4/9/20

- “The Coalition of Iraqi Forces announces its support for Mustafa Al-Kadhemi’s candidacy for Prime Minister,” 4/8/20

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