No way out as Iraq’s dangerous post-election impasse deepens

Eight months after national elections, Iraq still doesn't have a government and there seems to be no clear way out of the dangerous deadlock.

Political elites are embroiled in cutthroat competition for power, even as the country faces growing challenges, including an impending food crisis resulting from severe drought and the war in Ukraine.

For ordinary Iraqis, everything is delayed. The caretaker government is unable to make crucial electricity payments or draft plans for badly needed investment ahead of the critical summer months. Investments to upgrade water infrastructure have been paused while unemployment, water shortages and concerns over food security are drawing public anger.

The election was held several months earlier than expected, in response to mass protests that broke out in late 2019 and saw tens of thousands rally against endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment.

The vote brought victory for powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and was a blow for his Iran-backed Shiite rivals, who lost about two-thirds of their seats and have rejected the results.

"It's not about power; it's about survival," said Sajad Jiyad, an Iraq-based fellow with The Century Foundation.

Meanwhile, anger among the Iraqi public is growing as food prices soar and electricity cuts worsen.

Last month, caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi was forced to leave the Baghdad funeral of a celebrated poet after some mourners began chanting anti-government slogans and pelting the convoys of other government officials.

"Political obstruction impacts the work of the government and the state, and lowers the morale of citizens," al-Kadhimi told reporters on Tuesday, blaming the impasse for obstructing his reform plans....