Two Analysts don’t expect al-Iraqiya’s withdrawal from the political process

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Two Iraqi analysts have expressed expectation that al-Iraqiya Coalition, led by Iyad Allawi, won’t withdraw from Iraq ’s political process, considering such statements by the Coalition members as part of a “political pressure.”   The Political Analyist, Issam al-Feily, told IraqiNews.com news agency that the pressures, exerted by some political blocs against others are part of a political pressure, confirming that “all political blocs are keen to stay in power and non-withdrawal from it.”   “Al-Iraqiya Coalition had been counting highly on the so-called National Council for Strategic Policies (NCSP), because it wanted to achieve something practical from it in drawing Iraq’s internal and foreign policies, and when it failed to form the NCSP, al-Iraqiya began to threaten to withdraw from the political process, because in case if it would be formed, it would affect the whole political arena, though it would lead in the end to undermine the current government, due to the existence of more than one party in it, and not the State of Law, led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, alone,” Faily said.   Faily believes that “the components of al-Iraqiya Coalition, have scored gains, but the Chairman of the Coalition feels suppressed, thing that pushed him to threaten to withdraw from the political process.”   Another Political Analyst, Shamil Abul-Qader, sees that “the preliminary signs have appeared about the Arbil Agreement among political forces, and differences began to rise to the surface every other day, showing that al-Iraqiya Coalition has no other weapon, but the withdrawal, though it does not reflect a position of power, but a psychological weapon used by al-Iraqiya, rejecting the idea that it would withdraw from the political process.”   The President of North Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, Massoud Barzani, had announced an initiative on Sept. 16h last year, including the formation of an 8-12-member committee, representing different political forces, to start talks to settle their suspended differences, and to discuss the issue of forming a government of national-partnership, along with the settlement of the issue of the Three Leading Iraqi Presidencies.   “The position of the State of Law Coalition is more united with its symbols, when they talk with one single voice, that differs from al-Iraqiya Coalition, whose members give different statements, reflecting an announced division, such as the withdrawal of the so-called White al-Iraqiya, that deprived it from the broad winning of votes during the last nationwide elections,” Abdul-Qadir said.   Al-Iraqiya had stated last Wednesday that its difference is centered towards Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, and not towards his National Coalition, as a whole, threatening to withdraw trust from the government and call for early elections, in the event of the failure to achieve the national partnership.   SKH (FT)