This has been the case since the elections last May, leaving the government in a stalemate, with many politicians seeing the proposed appointment of al-Fayadh as Mahdi breaking his pledge to appoint a cabinet of independent technocrats. In fact, blocs like Saairun, which is supported by firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, have actually walked out of the Parliament each time Mahdi has tabled al-Fayadh’s nomination, leaving the Parliament unable to hold a vote.
Now, opposition to al-Fayadh is not surprising. His human rights abuses while serving as security advisor to former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earned him an indictment by the Spanish Courts for crimes against humanity that limits his ability to travel in Europe and his loyalty to the Iranian Regime above the Iraqi people lead many to question exactly what his priorities will be if allowed to serve.
These human rights abuses include the military assaults on the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI) refugees in Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty in Iraq, which killed 168 defenceless people and wounded a further 1,700. He also used the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces to commit genocidal ethnic cleansing of the Sunni population in Fallujah, Ramadi, and Mosul on the pretext of defeating ISIS.
Of course, Maliki, who is an Iranian puppet like al-Fayadh, has rejected the Iraqi parliament’s refusal to accept al-Fayadh and has thrown himself behind the pro-Iranian blocs, who support the interests of the Iranian Regime.
While the Iranian mullahs have sent General Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, to Iraq to advocate for al-Fayadh’s appointment and order Parliament Speaker, Mohamed al-Halbousi to ensure the vote in favour of Fayadh was passed. Some British security officials even report that Soleimani is directing Iranian hit squads to assassinate critics of the mullah’s regime and opponents of al-Fayadh.
Struan Stevenson, coordinator of the Campaign for Iran Change and former member of the European Parliament representing Scotland, wrote: “The Iranian mullahs’ malign interference in the internal affairs of Iraq has added to the growing crisis in the country, where there have been on-going public protests against the corruption of the political elite and the resulting unemployment and lack of public services.”
Stevenson, who is also president of the European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA), continued: “The international community must persuade Mahdi to dump the terrorist Fayadh and revert to the plan of appointing a cabinet composed on independent technocrats. Iranian interference in Iraq has cost the country dear. The blood-soaked sectarian legacy of Nouri al-Maliki and his henchman al-Fayadh should be a stark reminder that the mullah’s influence in Iraq has only ever been malevolent”
