An Iraqi politician, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al-Monitor that during the 2012 crisis, when some political forces tried to withdraw confidence from Maliki, the impartial forces tried to blackmail Maliki by demanding a great deal of personal favors in return for not joining the coalition to withdraw confidence. These demands included granting MPs the freedom to appoint their cronies in state departments, so as to enhance their political weight.
The same thing happened with the ministers who turned their allegiance away from their political parties that were opposing Maliki. Maliki himself talked about being blackmailed by his partners in the government, as they wish to achieve personal interests without being held accountable.
The State of Law Coalition has largely based its electoral campaign on government jobs and distributing land and housing to the needy, and has sought to provide social services outside the traditional institutional frameworks to gain more popular support. Maliki himself has been keen to distribute real estate title deeds to citizens during his campaign tours.
The distribution of land has always been one of the important tools used by the political power in Iraq to gain votes or reward followers. However, the danger of this practice lies in the fact that it has not been carried out according to a legal and administrative context that has been agreed on in an nondiscriminatory manner.
Politicians have long used this means to serve their interests, which was very common during Saddam Hussein's rule when giving a plot of land was a mere "tip" by the president for his supporters.
Besides the distribution of land, during his electoral campaign Maliki launched a series of government projects, which was seen by many as a kind of political propaganda, where the prime minister is using the government institutions to serve his political party.
One of the most striking phenomena during the recent elections is the nomination of Maliki's relatives as candidates within the State of Law Coalition or smaller supporting electoral lists.
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