Iraq parliament meets to discuss anti-corruption reforms

But that has made it harder to stamp his authority on a country enduring war with Islamic State, chronic corruption, Kurdish separatism, personal rivalry among political leaders and a financial crisis caused by collapsing prices for oil exports.

“Sistani’s call for Abadi to take bold decisions was the ideal support at the flawless time”, political analyst Ahmed Younis told Reuters.

While people publicly may support reform, al-Abadi’s plan noticeably pushes his predecessor, al-Maliki, out of office, as well as Ayad Allawi, a former member of Saddam’s Baathist government who was named prime minister following the 2003 invasion.

Iraq’s parliament voted to unanimously approve Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s reform package, Speaker Saleem al-Jabouri said during a session on Tuesday broadcast live on state television.

There is widespread agreement both inside and outside Iraq-especially among those of a rational disposition-that sectarian quotas for government posts, as well as politicians having loyalties to external parties like Iran, are a bad thing for the country. Two major Hashd al-Shaabi groups, the Badr Organization and Asaib Ahl Al-haq, the League of the Righteous, also known as Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) that have become widely popular for fighting the Islamic State, joined in on the rallies as well.

Abadi Sunday proposed a series of measures to combat graft, streamline the government and improve services after the protests and a call from Iraq’s top Shiite imam Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for drastic change.

Al-Abadi yesterday promised to proceed with the reforms even if they cost him his life.

On August 9, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider Abadi caught Iraq by surprise when he outlined a new reform program.

“Their relevance is the way that Abadi will use them as a stepping stone to make some small changes which will empower his popularity and position vis-a-vis other powerful rivals in the Shi’ite political scene”, she said. We get used to them. But Iraqi reformers have long argued this put too much power in the hands of ethno-sectarian party bosses, who occupy Baghdad offices, cruise its streets in armed convoys and staff their fiefs with loyalists.

Maliki, who belongs to the same party as Abadi and still wields significant influence, said Saturday evening-before Abadi outlined his plan publicly-that he supported the reform drive.

Baghdad and several cities in southern Iraq have been swept by a string of protests against the poor quality of services, including worsening power outages that have coincided with searing summer temperatures.

Saad al-Hadithi, a government spokesman, said the plan will be implemented in the coming months and that further changes are in the works.