Iraq PM sees power clipped by rivals amid pro-Iran pressure

As anti-government protests sweep his country, Iraq’s embattled premier has found his decision-making powers clipped by rivals and his entourage subject to increasing pressure from Iran, Iraqi officials told AFP.

Adel Abdel Mahdi, 77, came to power last year as the product of a tenuous alliance between populist cleric Moqtada Sadr and pro-Iran paramilitary chief Hadi al-Ameri, with the required blessing of Iraq’s Shiite religious leadership.

He was seen as an almost professorial figure who could tackle unemployment and government graft as Iraq’s first prime minister since the defeat of the Islamic State group. Most observers expected summer protests would put an early end to his mandate, and even he said he had his resignation letter “in his pocket.”

So when popular demonstrations erupted in early October over corruption and lack of jobs, the premier readied a resignation speech to deliver live on television, three government sources told AFP, requesting to remain anonymous. He never gave it.

“He was fully intending to resign during the first week of protests—but stayed under pressure from the different factions,” one of the officials said.

Instead, Abdel Mahdi appeared in a stern pre-recorded address that aired around 2:00 am on October 3, proposing a package of reforms that protesters angrily dismissed as insufficient.

 

Iraq PM sees power clipped by rivals amid pro-Iran pressure

As anti-government protests sweep his country, Iraqs embattled premier has found his decision-making powers clipped by rivals and his entourage subject to increasing pressure from Iran, Iraqi officials told AFP. Adel Abdel Mahdi, 77, came to power last year as the product of a tenuous alliance between populist cleric Moqtada Sadr and pro-Iran paramilitary chief Hadi al-Ameri, with the required blessing of Iraqs Shiite religious leadership. He was seen as an almost professorial figure who could tackle unemployment and government graft as Iraqs first prime minister since the defeat of the Islamic State group. Most observers expected summer protests would put an early end to his mandate, and even he said he had his resignation letter in his pocket. So when popular demonstrations erupted in early October over corruption and lack of jobs, the premier readied a resignation speech to deliver live on television, three government sources told AFP, requesting to remain anonymous. He never gave it. He was fully intending to resign during the first week of protestsbut stayed under pressure from the different factions, one of the officials said. Instead, Abdel Mahdi appeared in a stern pre-recorded address that aired around 2:00 am on October 3, proposing a package of reforms that protesters angrily dismissed as insufficient.