Iraq PM to halve government size

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki wants to cut the number of ministries and ministerial positions by nearly half in an effort to improve government efficiency, a close aide said on Thursday. "The prime minister is preparing a plan for a ministerial reduction," said Ali Mussawi. "The plan aims to cut the government to 25 ministerial positions by merging the ministries that perform overlapping functions," in order to make them more efficient, he told AFP. There are currently 44 cabinet members, including ministers of state and deputy prime ministers. They preside over 47 ministries, with Maliki interim head of defence, interior and security. Mussawi did not say which of the ministries would be merged. Maliki had said on June 23 that "reducing the size of the government and all unnecessary positions has become an urgent need." He also said that official graft must be tackled seriously, and called on parliament to expedite bills he said were lagging, and hampering his government's work. Mussawi said he was "confident that this project will be accepted by the political blocs, and will be presented to the parliament soon." Bureaucratic red tape and official corruption are common complaints among Iraqis. The political committee of the Shiite parliamentary coalition said in a statement that it supported the project, but insisted that it should not affect the balance in the cabinet between the various political blocs. Kurdish MP Mahmud Othman announced the support of his bloc, under the "condition that it must be politically balanced." The Iraqiya bloc, whose leader Iyad Allawi vied with Maliki for the premiership, also expressed support, said its media adviser Hani Ashur. "The governmental effort should be based on qualification and partnership standards," he said. Independent MP Sabah al-Saedi, however, opposed Maliki's initiative. He said on Wednesday that "the prime minister must dismiss the ministers of the Dawa party and State of Law, if he really wants to reduce his current government," referring to Maliki's party and coalition. Political analyst Ihsan al-Shammari, meanwhile, said Maliki's initiative would likely not succeed. "This project will not be successful; it is just a political manoeuvre," he said, adding that people wanted to see concrete results. Maliki was only able to form a government in December, after long months of political deadlock and wrangling that followed parliamentary polls in March. In late February, Iraqis began protesting regularly against government corruption, unemployment and poor basic services, as demonstrations swept the Arab world. More than eight years after the US-led invasion that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, most Iraqis subsist on around three hours of mains power per day, filling the gap with expensive generators, and most lack clean water.