Will Secular Parties gain Upper Hand in Iraq?

It is clear that Maliki is defending the so-called Islamist project to preserve the influence and power of his parliamentary bloc in the government and to prevent the rise of rivals, whether or not they are secular. Throughout the governments of Maliki and his successor Abadi, Iraq has been managed in a way that no one would call an “Islamist project” in the face of a secular project.

The only common feature among those governments was failure. This is what the Shiite authority in Najaf, Ali al-Sistani, has realized. Sistani subsequently withheld his support from all Islamist parties, and the Dawa Party in particular. He criticized these parties and blamed them for the country’s deteriorating security situation and financial crisis.

In fact, the relationship between Sistani and Maliki has been strained since the end of 2010, when Maliki began his second term. The Shiite authority has declined to meet Maliki since then, harshly criticized him and clearly worked to prevent him from getting a third term in office.

The Islamist parties are witnessing a major crisis. They have lost the support of the religious establishment and are facing a popular protest movement opposing them, with some of the protesters being Islamist themselves. Thus, these parties are suffering from diminished religious and popular legitimacy, indicating the possibility that a secular discourse may soon emerge to rival that of the Islamist parties.