Maliki's government not about to fall: senior Iraq MP
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament has no plans to launch a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government despite the defection of a dozen of ministers and ebbing support for his rule, a senior politician said.
Deputy parliament speaker Khaled al-Attiya said the government was still backed by a majority of members in the legislature and any attempt to topple Maliki's 16-month-old administration would fail.
"There is absolutely no way now to overthrow the government and to present a proposal to withdraw confidence from it," Attiya, an independent Shi'ite lawmaker from the ruling Shi'ite Alliance, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.
"The government still has the confidence and the support of most of the members of parliament and therefore there is no chance to withdraw this confidence. I do not think there is a real chance for a no-confidence vote."
Last week, the political movement of fiery Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr pulled out of the Shi'ite Alliance in parliament, further weakening Maliki.
Political bickering, a struggle for power and the lack of trust among Sunni Arab, Shi'ite and Kurdish parties which formed the government has left it weak and divided, complicating its efforts to improve security and deliver basic services.
The government's position worsened when six ministers from the main Sunni Arab bloc quit the cabinet last month. Members of a secular bloc as well as from Sadr's movement have also left.
While the Sadrists say they have no immediate plan to overthrow Maliki, some officials expect the bloc will eventually move towards other opposition parties to challenge Maliki and seek a no-confidence vote.
"There have been no proposals presented to parliament asking for this and there are no signs of such a proposal passing," said Attiya, a senior member of the ruling alliance.
A motion of no-confidence would require at least 50 lawmakers in the 275-member legislature to present a proposal to parliament's presidency council, which would then put it to a vote before the full chamber.
The motion would pass with 50 percent of votes plus one.
Attiya said the Shi'ite Alliance, which includes two major Shi'ite parties and a Kurdish coalition, would still be able to muster a majority in parliament, especially since other blocs had their own problems and disagreements.
Attiya said regardless of the political crisis, parliament was ready to begin discussing key laws seen as critical for reconciling warring majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs.
He said parliament had received a landmark oil law and also draft legislation on debaathification, which would ease curbs on former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party rejoining the government. Parliament would begin discussing the draft debaathification law next week, he said.
Other laws such as those dealing with revenue distribution from Iraq's vast oil reserves and other commodities, as well as a law on provincial elections, had yet to be submitted, he said.
The United States regards the laws as vital to healing the deep sectarian divide in Iraq.
"There is no obstacle in parliament to discussing the laws ... The only problem is the differences between the political blocs and the leaders," Attiya said.
