Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has called for an amendment of Iraq's constitution to strengthen the central government, as an opinion poll showed a high level of opposition to federalism.
"Iraq needs to change its laws and constitution to be able to defend its unity", he said at a meeting with tribal leaders in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 160 kilometers south of Baghdad.
"I call on the provinces to cooperate with the federal government to cut the road to those who want to harm Iraq", Maliki said.
"The existence of a powerful federal government is not detrimental to the provinces, they will have more money and more support from central government", said the Shiite premier.
Maliki is not running in the January 31 provincial elections but has campaigned on behalf of his Coalition for a State of Law list hammering home the point that Baghdad needs greater central powers to govern.
His approach has drawn a barrage of criticism, especially from federalist Shiites and Kurds, who accuse him of trying to monopolize power.
Baghdad's central government, and especially Maliki, has struggled with Kurdish and Shiite federalist movements since the principle was enshrined in the constitution.
But amending Iraq's constitution is extremely difficult because any proposed change can be rejected by three provinces. The autonomous Kurd region of Northern Iraq alone is made up of three provinces.
According to an opinion poll published by the government-sponsored National Media Center, Maliki's party is expected to win 23 percent of votes, ahead of the secular National Iraqi List led by former Premier Iyad Allawi, with 12.6 percent.
The research also showed that most Iraqis are strongly opposed to federalism.
Of 4,500 Iraqis, 72 percent rejected federalism. In sharp contrast, 78 percent of Iraqi Kurds, who make up 14 percent of the country's estimated 29 million population, were in favor.
A leading Shiite politician, Abdelaziz al-Hakim of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council has proposed Iraq should be split into semi-autonomous regions based on sect and ethnicity, but 80 percent of those questioned opposed such partitions.
In addition, 80 percent of all Iraqis rejected autonomy for the oil-rich Shiite southern region of Basra, while 94 percent of local residents were also opposed.
The figures were published as the country's Electoral Commission said a petition in support of a referendum to turn Basra Province into an autonomous region had failed to collect enough signatures.
"This project has not been successful", Kassim al-Aboudi, administrative director of the Independent High Electoral Commission, told a media briefing.
Some politicians and residents had called for the referendum in Basra to allow the economically developed region to gain a similar semi-independent status to the three Kurdish provinces in Northern Iraq.
Petitioners were given until January 19 to collect signatures of 10 percent of the 1,409,393 eligible voters in Basra Province and its port city, the country's economic nerve center.
Although the motion in Basra failed in its bid to reach the required 10 percent, citizens could file the motion again by winning two percent of voter signatures, Aboudi noted.
The Iraqi federalist constitution allows for any of the country's 18 provinces to hold such a referendum.
Basra is Iraq's third largest city and considered the financial hub, due to crude production and its port.
More than 70 percent of Iraq's oil is produced in the region and its port is used for 80 percent of crude exports.
The region is however beset by rivalries among three main Shiite factions the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, the Fadhila Party and the Sadrists, those loyal to the radical cleric Moktada al-Sadr.
The big loser in the elections will be the Supreme Islamic Council in Iraq, led by Hakim, which will take third place with 11.4 percent of votes, according to the poll.
Hakim's party currently controls eight of Iraq's 18 provinces, 11 of which have a Shiite majority.
The list of another former prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, will take 11.3 percent of votes, according to the poll.
The research also found that two Sunnite parties, the National Concord Front and the National Dialogue Front, will score 4.5 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.
In 2005 Iraq's Sunnites largely boycotted the provincial elections.
Asked who would make the best prime minister, 23 percent said Maliki, 17.7 percent went for Allawi and 10 percent backed Jafaari.
Iraq's Election Commission, with the help of the United Nations, is holding elections in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces the first vote in the country since 2005, two years after the regime of Saddam Hussein was overthrown.
Over 400 political groups and 14,431 candidates will be contesting the elections.
Iraq 'ready for early US withdrawal'
Iraq said last week it was prepared for an early reduction of US troops after President Barack Obama asked the American military to draft plans for a withdrawal from Iraq.
"If the American pullout comes early, our Iraqi forces have prepared for this", said Major-General Mohammed al-Askari, spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Defense.
"Our forces have been readying for this mission since last year and we are fully capable of handling security without relying on US forces. We only need American air support and intelligence", Askari said.
Obama said on January 21 he had told top military commanders to make the necessary plans for a "responsible" withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.
"I asked the military leadership to engage in additional planning necessary to execute a responsible military drawdown from Iraq", Obama said in a statement one day after being sworn in as president and commander-in-chief of America's armed forces.
Obama said he issued the instructions in a meeting with the US ambassador to Iraq, the US military commander in Iraq, the commander for the region and top cabinet and national security officials.
The new president promised during his campaign to order US troops out of Iraq within 16 months.
Obama, who opposed the Iraq war, has said he wants to redeploy thousands of combat troops from the country to Afghanistan, where conditions have deteriorated and which he says is the prime front against Al-Qaeda.
Under an agreement signed between Washington and Baghdad in November, the US military is slated to withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2011 and it will begin pulling out of cities by June this year.
According to the US State Department, 142,000 American troops are currently deployed in Iraq.
© Monday Morning 2009
