Maliki arrives for the "Invest Iraq 2009" conference at the Landmark Hotel in central London last Thursday. Photo from Sky News.On Saturday evening over 500 Iraqi expats packed the King's Suite in the Hilton Metropole on Edgware Road to listen to PM Maliki and to have a chance to ask him questions face to face. Almost every sect, political ideology and denomination was represented in the hall.
Maliki was pretty impressive, and reminded me of an Arab version of Tony Blair. Although he looked grumpy the whole time, he was calm and confident when he spoke and answered questions. Maliki lacks the charisma of Blair and Obama, but like many other good politicians he has mastered the art of answering a question without really answering it. Sometimes people hear just what they want to hear, and applaud anyway.
Speaking to the professionals living outside Iraq, he urged them to come back and help build up their country. He argued "You say you cannot come back until everything is secure and Iraq is prosperous, but I say Iraq will not be prosperous until you come back and help in the reconstruction effort... It is the chicken or egg dilemma... Of course you will not enjoy the same services you enjoy in the UK or the same salaries, things will be different but you have to make sacrifices because your country needs you"
He added "I appreciate many of you cannot simply lock your houses and leave everything behind, as I did in Syria, and that many of you have children growing up and studying here, but those willing to make the sacrifice can come back with me". He quipped "My plane back to Baghdad is empty" and the crowd applauded at the gesture.
The security was extremely tight, nothing like when Talabani or Hakim were in London, although of course this time half the executive government was sitting in the same room. Security would regularly walk up and down the rows of chairs scanning faces and talking quietly into their microphones.
The only incident of the day happened when a Ba'athist told Maliki "Those who killed and hurt the Iraqi people remain Iraqi". Although technically what he said was correct, it did not go down too well with the crowd, who jeered at him and cut him off. One man got up and tried to confront the Ba'athist but was forced to sit back down. The Ba'athist did the right thing and walked out as soon as he saw the hostile reaction from the people. Maliki did nothing, he just sighed and rolled his eyes.
On the issue of the Ba'ath Party Maliki said "There are many Ba'athists working now in Iraq, we allow those who have no blood on their hands to join us. Our problem is with the people who have killed... the criminals"
Maliki's only slip up of the day was when he was asked by a member of the Mandaei community "What is the government doing to protect the Mandaei people in Iraq from ethnic cleansing?". He started off with a good answer. "The Mandaei people were not the only ones being targeted in Iraq, the terrorists targeted all the Iraqi people. The Shia and Sunnis in Iraq were being slaughtered before the terrorists started with the Mandaeis". But then he continued "I have a strong personal relationship with..." He paused. "Sheikh..." and another pause. He forgot the name of the Mandaei leader. He looked to his left and asked the chair "What's his name?" and after being told said "Yes, Sheikh Sattar, I have seen him many times and we keep in contact constantly"
On corruption the message was clear. "It's happening" he said "and we trying our best to combat it. Corruption is something we inherited from the previous regime". Another issue according to Maliki was that a lot of the Iraqi politicians are being targeted by their enemies who throw corruption allegations left, right and center. Many honest people have their names tarnished by anonymous posters on the Internet who may have a personal grudge against them. "We cannot rely on people who write up stories on the Internet and then sign off with names like 'Truth teller' and 'Loyal citizen'. If anyone knows something about someone let them come forward with evidence and we will take action"
The crowd burst into laughter when one women asked the Iraqi Prime Minister "What is the status of women and what role do women play in society in Iran?". After the hall had settled down she managed to compose herself and ask the question again correctly this time. Maliki said "Do not ask me what the role of women and what the role of men is, ask me what the role of the Iraqi individual is". Another round of applause.
When questioned about the deficit in the Iraqi budget, and how the government expected to pay salaries with oil prices so low Maliki reassured everyone that this will not affect salaries. I hope he is right.
Maliki was pretty impressive, and reminded me of an Arab version of Tony Blair. Although he looked grumpy the whole time, he was calm and confident when he spoke and answered questions. Maliki lacks the charisma of Blair and Obama, but like many other good politicians he has mastered the art of answering a question without really answering it. Sometimes people hear just what they want to hear, and applaud anyway.
Speaking to the professionals living outside Iraq, he urged them to come back and help build up their country. He argued "You say you cannot come back until everything is secure and Iraq is prosperous, but I say Iraq will not be prosperous until you come back and help in the reconstruction effort... It is the chicken or egg dilemma... Of course you will not enjoy the same services you enjoy in the UK or the same salaries, things will be different but you have to make sacrifices because your country needs you"
He added "I appreciate many of you cannot simply lock your houses and leave everything behind, as I did in Syria, and that many of you have children growing up and studying here, but those willing to make the sacrifice can come back with me". He quipped "My plane back to Baghdad is empty" and the crowd applauded at the gesture.
The security was extremely tight, nothing like when Talabani or Hakim were in London, although of course this time half the executive government was sitting in the same room. Security would regularly walk up and down the rows of chairs scanning faces and talking quietly into their microphones.
The only incident of the day happened when a Ba'athist told Maliki "Those who killed and hurt the Iraqi people remain Iraqi". Although technically what he said was correct, it did not go down too well with the crowd, who jeered at him and cut him off. One man got up and tried to confront the Ba'athist but was forced to sit back down. The Ba'athist did the right thing and walked out as soon as he saw the hostile reaction from the people. Maliki did nothing, he just sighed and rolled his eyes.
On the issue of the Ba'ath Party Maliki said "There are many Ba'athists working now in Iraq, we allow those who have no blood on their hands to join us. Our problem is with the people who have killed... the criminals"
Maliki's only slip up of the day was when he was asked by a member of the Mandaei community "What is the government doing to protect the Mandaei people in Iraq from ethnic cleansing?". He started off with a good answer. "The Mandaei people were not the only ones being targeted in Iraq, the terrorists targeted all the Iraqi people. The Shia and Sunnis in Iraq were being slaughtered before the terrorists started with the Mandaeis". But then he continued "I have a strong personal relationship with..." He paused. "Sheikh..." and another pause. He forgot the name of the Mandaei leader. He looked to his left and asked the chair "What's his name?" and after being told said "Yes, Sheikh Sattar, I have seen him many times and we keep in contact constantly"
On corruption the message was clear. "It's happening" he said "and we trying our best to combat it. Corruption is something we inherited from the previous regime". Another issue according to Maliki was that a lot of the Iraqi politicians are being targeted by their enemies who throw corruption allegations left, right and center. Many honest people have their names tarnished by anonymous posters on the Internet who may have a personal grudge against them. "We cannot rely on people who write up stories on the Internet and then sign off with names like 'Truth teller' and 'Loyal citizen'. If anyone knows something about someone let them come forward with evidence and we will take action"
The crowd burst into laughter when one women asked the Iraqi Prime Minister "What is the status of women and what role do women play in society in Iran?". After the hall had settled down she managed to compose herself and ask the question again correctly this time. Maliki said "Do not ask me what the role of women and what the role of men is, ask me what the role of the Iraqi individual is". Another round of applause.
When questioned about the deficit in the Iraqi budget, and how the government expected to pay salaries with oil prices so low Maliki reassured everyone that this will not affect salaries. I hope he is right.
