Iraq is heading for a new coalition government which may be somewhat different to its predecessor due to the change in the balance of power in the country following the last elections. Mr Noori Almaliki, the Prime Minister designate, who has also been accused of manipulating power the last time round, may have to share power with his new partners in the coming government, which most indicators show he is able to form after securing his alliance with the Sadrists and Kurds, as well as support from other smaller blocs. But, the possibility of failure still exists due to the great challenges ahead and the high expectations of the participating blocs, all of which he cannot meet. If it happens, this will force the president to ask the candidate of the other bloc, Dr Ayad Allawi, to form the government. Mr Maliki recognizes the magnitude of the difficulties he is facing, which is why he is using all the time legally available to him, as well as that of the President, which is 15 days, in the negotiations to form the government. He may not be able to submit all the names of his cabinet in one go, as happened before when he and his predecessor had to submit some of the names within the deadline, while he kept the negotiations going over other names which were submitted later. Although this has happened in the past, there are no legal or constitutional grounds that allow submitting names after the deadline of 30 days, and this is another loophole in the constitution. Coalition governments are normally weak and incoherent, politically and organizationally. Members do not always follow the instructions of the prime minister but rather those of the leaders of their blocs, which have other programmes and different political leanings. But they have to work with their political opponents and give up some of their policies, and accept the policies of other parties that they are in coalition with, according to a specific agreed programme for government. Many coalition governments do not complete their terms due to political differences that may surface between them, which usually lead to the calling of early elections that will redraw the political map. But they can succeed if they stick to the agreed programme. They all need to show their electorate some achievements before the next elections. The electorate do expect current partners to work hard in order to make the government successful because its failure won't be in the interest of anyone except terrorist groups which invent ways to weaken the country. Targeting Iraqi Christians was one of those evil ways to weaken Iraq, but this attempt failed because Iraqis, who disagree on and in everything, are all in consensus on the fact that Iraqi Christians are the most patriotic and law-abiding citizens in the country. They also get along better than others with different components of Iraq. Government posts will be distributed among participating blocs in the coalition according to a point system which has been in force since 2005. The system determines the size of participation for each bloc according to the number of parliamentary seats. Each point is worth 2.24 seats. The three presidencies — President of the Republic, Prime Minister, and Speaker — have been allocated 10 points each, i.e. 22.24 seats. Vic-presidents and Deputy Prime Minister are allocated 5 points each. 8 points go for the head of the National Council for High Policies, 4 for his deputy. However, the Iraqia bloc opposes allocating any points to the NCHP, which is expected to be filled by its leader Ayad Allawi. As for ‘sovereign' ministries, which are the Foreign, Oil and Finance ministries (Planning has also been added to them recently), they have been allocated 3 points each. ‘High' service ministries, such as Electricity, Education, Health, Municipalities, Communication and Transport, have been allocated 2 points each, while ‘low' service ministries, such as Culture, Human Rights, Environment and Tourism and Archaeological Sites, got 1.5 points each. State ministries got 1 point each. Because of tense competition over government posts, the number of ministries may reach 40, half of them without real function except to satisfy political parties. They are also contemplating the creation of new high posts, such as having three vice-presidents and three deputies to the prime minister! These posts will be a burden on the state and a waste of public money since they do not serve any purpose except satisfying certain political personalities who feel they are too high to occupy posts other than the presidential, too active to retire and make way for others, and too proficient and highly qualified to be outside the government; the state will collapse if their expertise is not put to use! The question remains: What can these personalities do other than express their opinions — which can be expressed from any position? Why can't they look for other roles more useful to the country, rather than running after government posts? It's true that political consensus is important, but what is more important is finding real jobs that will provide tangible services to people — not high-resonating posts that satisfy personal ego. The outgoing government made many mistakes, and these must not be allowed to be repeated under the new government. In fact they must be corrected urgently. Most important among them was filling important posts and positions on a basis that has nothing to do with suitability, experience, qualifications or expertise. This has contributed to the deterioration of services and security, and the spread of corruption and failure in all state institutions. Political posts must be filled by politicians, no one disputes this, but other positions must be filled by professionals and qualified people who are able to manage them. Professionals can be held accountable by known professional procedures, if they make mistakes or commit misdemeanours, but political appointees will be backed by their sponsors, come hell or high water. This is one of the biggest problems that Iraq faces today. If the unqualified remained in their positions, which they have occupied by mistake or accident, this will perpetuate the problems, keep the state in a vicious circle of failure, and deprive the country of efficient and qualified professionals who could make a real difference if they were in positions of responsibility. We must learn lessons from past mistakes. All blocs participating in government must benefit from the mistakes and successes of the previous government. The Iraqia bloc participated in the first Maliki government, but decided to withdraw after a few months in protest at marginalization. But all its minsters, bar one, who is the minister of Communication, remained in government, preferring to stay in their positions over following the instructions of their political leadership which put them in their positions in the first place. This experience must not be repeated. Other blocs suffered from similar problems, except the Kurdish Alliance which remained coherent despite the emergence of Goran (Change), which has taken an independent political line for itself. There are officials who moved between the lists pursuing their own personal interests, and they must not be rewarded for these cynical moves. On the contrary, the reward must go to those who are committed to their principles, favouring the public interest over the personal. Candidates for different posts must be known for their commitment to political programmes, not personal interest. Many Iraqis fear that the public interest may be lost or sidelined amidst the intensity of politicians' pursuing personal ambitions and interests. This is a huge responsibility which must not be overlooked by the new Iraqi leaders if they want to effect real change in their country. * Iraqi writer
