Because of two seemingly intractable reasons, Qadir Aziz, general secretary of the Kurdistan Future Party, says he doubts a no-confidence vote will take place. First, there is disunity among the parties seeking to dislodge Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Secondly, but no less importantly, he fears the United States is against regime change. At the very least, Aziz says that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden expressed no support for sacking Maliki, during his trip to Iraq this week. Another Kurdish politician, M.P. Mahmoud Othman, warned the whole situation could be damaging to Kurds.
President Jalal Talabani’s office did release a statement later in the day stating that no voting would take place. Although the coalition had almost enough signatures to call a no-confidence vote, many of the signatories later changed their minds, perhaps after speaking with the prime minister.
Separately, Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, who is one of the leaders seeking the no-confidence vote, accused the Maliki government of trying to strip parliament’s power. He believes letting Maliki remain in office could plunge Iraq into sectarian violence.
Meanwhile, at least 11 Iraqis were killed and 7 more were wounded in the latest violence. Also, a series of bomb and mortar attacks against oil pipelines failed to stop the flow.
Six bombs exploded near Kirkuk, but no casualties were reported. Two oil pipelines were damaged. Mortars also struck pipelines near Mosul, but neither casualties nor damage was reported.
A bomb in Baaj killed four soldiers and wounded three civilians.
Three civilians were killed and two more were wounded when a roadside bomb blew up near Ramadi. Separately, gunmen killed a police officer and wounded two others.
In Mosul, the body of a student was discovered. Gunmen killed a police officer.
An Asayesh agent was found dead in Kirkuk.
