Will Abadi's Reforms work?

Abadi can accelerate the implementation of the reforms by winning further support of the religious authorities, which have so far supported the reforms he decided on, and by obtaining the approval of the political blocs. It is worth mentioning that some reservations on these reforms were expressed by Vice President Ayad Allawi and Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi, who considered the reforms a violation of the constitution.

The government has major challenges to face in its implementation of reform measures, given the size of the problems in the state’s structure, disintegrating institutions, the confusion and inconsistency of laws and management’s instructions, and the deep-rooted corruption even in state regulatory systems.

The difficulty of this task lies not only in the lack of required professional and scientific experts to deal with the situation — especially in light of the major brain drain in all domains during the past decade — but also in the will of Iraqi politicians to adopt the philosophy of reform in the interest of unity and society.

The fate of Iraq’s reforms depends on four basic criteria. First, Iraqi political forces ought to prove their ability to adopt reforms of their own accord, as opposed to being forced to do it under pressure by the Iraqi people.

Second, the Iraqi government ought to adopt a meritocratic system when filling leadership positions, away from sectarian and party quotas; this could boost the judiciary system in its fight against corruption.

Third, people must continue exerting and increasing pressure so that their demands can be met.

Fourth, there ought to be regional and international support for Iraq’s reforms, which necessitates achieving appropriate political and economic support in this phase to help Iraqis in reaching their goals.

It is impossible to assume that a tangible outcome for the newly adopted reforms will be seen within the government and parliament. However, with goodwill and an objective and unified effort in addition to ongoing popular pressure, new doors to recovery could be opening for Iraq.