Sectarian balance causing weak government

"The sectarian balance on which the government was formed has made it impossible [to] make big decisions or ferret out corruption or incompetence.
'If Maliki discovered that one of his ministers in one of the political parties was involved in corruption or brutality, he could not fire him, because [the minister is] backed up by another political party,' said Salim Abdullah Jabouri, a spokesman for Iraq's main Sunni party, which is part of the ruling coalition. 'He'll be accused of going against [the] minister's party.'
. . . At the ministry level, a raft of corruption cases has struck fear in the hearts of administrators, who allow money to pile up rather than become entangled in a graft case. "There is an ambience where people are afraid of making decisions," an official said.
Even when decisions are made, there is no oversight to make sure follow-up action is taken, nor any coordination among ministries.
. . . Maliki appears to have recognized the problems. But many say it may be too late, that even the finest government officials can't enforce good policy with a weak government."

source
Los Angeles Times. Iraq's government hampered by suspicions: Elected officials acknowledge that they haven't accomplished much. November 22, 2006.

posted: thursday, november 23, 2006, 3:07 PM ET