Kurdistan’s second largest party, Gorran, became the first group to leave the coalition government in Iraq today, citing the Maliki announcement that his cabinet would only give Gorran a single ministry. The bloc had hoped for two.
They will likely not be the last, however, as the new cabinet’s lack of power-sharing is irking a number of factions, even though enough parliamentary support to still have been in place to push them through.
In the spirit of power-sharing, Prime Minister Maliki’s new cabinet includes a new Defense Minister (Nouri al-Maliki), a new Interior Minister (Nouri al-Maliki), and a new National Security Minister (Nouri al-Maliki). It seems hard to believe that just nine months ago Maliki was defeated in the election, and his days of dominating Iraqi politics had been written off as over.
The Iraqi National Alliance bloc, dominated by Moqtada al-Sadr, appears to be frustrated, and Iraqiya didn’t get their wished for Defense Portfolio, though they did net the Finance Ministry. It remains to be seen if either will be satisfied with their portfolios, but Maliki’s insistance on dominating the entire security apparatus will likely not sit well with anyone, even if his bloc insists this is “temporary.”