There's some political intrigue going on behind the scenes that could lead to the ouster of Maliki. It's especially interesting given that al-Hakim is the power broker behind the scenes and he recently met with Bush. My guess, given Bush's support of Maliki is that he knew what was going on but wanted to keep his fingerprints off of it.
This could be an incredibly positive development given that the power base appears to be secular and they are looking to cut out Moqtada al-Sadr. As I posted previously, that needs to happen if Iraq is going to stabilize in a manner which doesn't make it a puppet of Iran.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Major partners in Iraq's governing coalition are in behind-the-scenes talks to oust Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki amid discontent over his failure to quell raging violence, according to lawmakers involved.
The talks are aimed at forming a new parliamentary bloc that would seek to replace the current government and that would likely exclude supporters of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who is a vehement opponent of the U.S. military presence.
The new alliance would be led by senior Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, who met with President Bush last week. Al-Hakim, however, was not expected to be the next prime minister because he prefers the role of powerbroker, staying above the grinding day-to-day running of the country.
The other element I find incredibly hopeful about this is that it seems there is an actual political infrastructure starting to build in Iraq. Individuals, including some clerics, are thinking about taking power through negotiation, instead of arms.
It's been a long four years and I can't get overly optimistic given everything that we have witnessed. Plus one never knows which way alliances can go. But given this news, there is reason to hope.
As Jules points out, there could be an immediate increase of violence from al-Sadr and aligned individuals, especially those who have infiltrated the army and the police. But it's going to take what it takes if Iraq has any hope of gaining stability, as well as freedom for its various groups.
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