Iraq's Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi has now been in office for one hundred days. The question is: has he also been in power? The challenges he faced from the outset were daunting. His largely unlamented predecessor Nouri Al-Maliki had squandered opportunities to reunite the country, pushing instead policies custom-made to deepen division and suspicion. His corrupt and incapable administration fell out with foreign oil companies, appointed completely unqualified party hacks to key technological positions and promoted incompetent army officers who allowed the Iraqi armed forces to decay through their neglect of basics like drills and training. Nothing happened in Maliki's misgovernment without the rustle of bank notes being counted. Abadi has had to cope with this deeply flawed inheritance. During the eight years of Maliki's misrule, many of Iraq's most highly qualified individuals, from all communities, decided that there was no future for them in the country. There has been a brain drain, a hemorrhage of talent. Highly experienced business men and professionals, lawyers, doctors, scientists, academics, as well as bright young students bursting with ideas and ambitions have quit. Doubtless most promised themselves that when the time was right, they would come back. But they have begun to make successful new lives for themselves in other countries. With each passing year, going home becomes more unlikely. Iraq cannot afford to lose more such people. Even though Iraq's squabbling political leaders realized that Maliki was a disaster, it took months of wrangling before this deeply discredited politician could be persuaded to go. And even then he clung to as much of his power as possible, including the vice presidency. It was only last month that Abadi succeeded in pushing a seven-point reform plan through the Iraqi parliament. This proposes scrapping many layers of the bureaucracy that piled up under Maliki and scrapping sectarian and party quotas for state positions. It also gives the prime minister power to fire regional officials and governors and restarts stalled corruption inquiries. Pushing all of this through would be challenge enough in a country at peace, where Iranian influence did not still run strong. However, it becomes a huge task in the light of the assault by Daesh (the self-proclaimed IS) which has seized large tracts of the country, including the key city of Mosul. Indeed, Baghdad still remains under threat. The spectacular Daesh successes against the appallingly-led Iraqi army enfranchised Shia militias to step forward and do the army's job for it. In acting thus, it is clear that they have pursued their own agenda, regarding any Sunni as a Daesh supporter. Abadi may have some residual control over the army's commanders, especially after their spectacular failures, but he has no influence whatsoever over the Shia militias.
Maliki of course will be rejoicing in his successor's troubles. He undoubtedly still hopes to return to power. He will be encouraging every one of the bureaucrats and military officers who owe their places to his patronage to do everything that they can to obstruct the new prime minister. Iraq's bickering power brokers had the wisdom to push Maliki aside. They now need to rediscover that unity of purpose to give complete backing to Abadi's reform drive, and enable the prime minister to break those who try to resist the dismantling of Maliki's disastrous and dishonorable inheritance.
