Najeeb Al Salhi - Secretary General of the Free Officers and Civilians Movement (a political party in Iraq) - is publicly criticizing the mechanism of the interim council’s rule and the current government in Iraq as the council; which he believes was not set-up in a proper manner. He also accuses its [interim government] members of taking control of decision making and transforming their respective ministries into political establishments. Salhi also warns of possible attempts in manipulating the upcoming elections, which the Iraqi people are expecting would be democratic and transparent.
Regarding the recent demands [by politicians] of change in the interim council, Salhi explained to Al Bawaba, “the approach of getting the Iraqis to rule themselves and take over administrative tasks from the Americans is a very complex move on the way to complete independence. But we have serious doubts about the way in which members [of the interim council] were chosen as there are local voices that are not represented in the council…many of the well known nationalistic figures in Iraq were excluded, while many members that were not previously known to Iraqis prior to the formation of the council are represented in it.”
“The Iraqis have a lot of sensitivity towards the issue of transparency in the formation of their new constitutional institutions as they were deprived that right in the days of Saddam’s rule. Whether one is a member of the council or not depends now depends on who appoints them on it…the Iraqi people need figures that are known to them and they definitely do not want new ones being forced on their political scene…this is what should be considered in any changes in the council or government.”
Speaking about the current Iraqi government, Salhi believes that it is identical to the council itself, hinting that it was chosen by six or seven powerful men among the council.
“The council declared that there would be broad outlines when choosing the ministers, including such criteria as efficiency, track record, decency and honesty as well as proven patriotism to Iraq. Regretfully, this was only in theory and was never implemented, as there is no noticeable popular support for the government.”
Salhi’s comments come at a time the council is facing severe criticism and accusations that its members are taking care of their own ‘personal business’ rather than that of the Iraqi people.
Salhi however does admit that the council has made some achievements, but he adds “many things that were supposed to be done in the first few months did not happen. Also, things that we used to hate about Saddam and his regime are starting to resurface again... Saddam gave power to a small group of people and this is happening again now by the political parties on the council who are giving the ministries to their own ‘clan’ - the minister should serve the whole population and not his political party and its supporters.”
Speaking about the upcoming elections, Salhi asserted “it is very important to have these elections in a very democratic and transparent environment. The process of determining who should run an elected the candidates should not be subjected to any kind of manipulation. Most Iraqis do not believe in an uncorrupt electoral system – which is something that should be considered very seriously.”
Salhi also adds that he has an ‘uneasy’ feeling with regards to the upcoming elections in Iraq. “Many leading figures are expected to be out of the running simply because they don’t have the same funding that other more powerful (i.e. on the interim council or in government) officials have, and are also less exposed to the public as they are not represented in the interim council…so the elections will be fought out by a few powerful people who would eventually share the power in Iraq.”
Gen. Najib al-Salhi, 48, commanded a tank battalion in the Republican Guards and rose to become chief of staff to the mechanised division of the 5th Corps in 1995. That year he
defected from Iraq. Now, he is currently involved in helping putting together the Intelligence apparatus in Iraq.
