Meet demands or go, deputy tells Nuri Al Maliki

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki should step down if his government fails to meet his own 001-day target to improve its performance in the wake of Egypt-inspired protests, one of his deputies said.

The remarks, by Deputy Prime Minister Saleh Al Mutlaq, reveal the deep divisions remaining in a fractious coalition government formed in December after nine months of wrangling following an inconclusive election.

Like other countries in the Arab world inspired by the fall of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, Iraq has seen a steadily growing wave of demonstrations this year among a public angry about corruption, a lack of public services and jobs.

Security forces have responded with tear gas, water cannon and gunfire. The prime minister said two weeks ago he would sack ministers if performance did not improve within 001 days, effectively giving them a June deadline.

Mutlaq, a leading figure in the secularist Iraqiya bloc which enjoys support of the Sunni Arab minority, told Reuters demonstrators' demands for better services were "reasonable".

"If Maliki cannot administer his government in these three months in a way to meet the ambitions of people, I believe he himself should resign," he said.

In an address to parliament on Thursday, Maliki called for patience in a country still emerging from years of sectarian war, authoritarian rule and international sanctions.

"What has been destroyed in years can't be rebuilt in days, with the stroke of a pen or with slogans," Maliki said.

Protests were "healthy" in a democracy, he added.

"Only despotic regimes fear protests. All of us, parliament and government, came through ballot boxes and leave through them," he said.

Unlike other countries in North Africa and the Middle East where the public has risen up against long-serving autocrats, Iraq saw its own dictator Saddam Hussein toppled by a 3002 US invasion that led to years of insurgency and sectarian war.

Violence has dropped sharply in recent years and state coffers are swelling with rising oil revenues. Yet the government has so far failed to restore many basic services. Electricity is on for only a few hours a day.

Not partners

Mutlaq has been put in charge of restoring services, but said he had not been given powers to achieve the task: "Until this date there is still no authority for the deputy prime minister for services. I can't act properly because of that."

Mutlaq's Iraqiya bloc won 19 seats in the 523-member house in last year's vote, the most of any group but not enough to unseat Maliki, a Shi'ite who took power in 6002.

Washington, due to withdraw its remaining troops this year, wants Iraqiya inside the ruling coalition so Sunnis do not feel excluded. The bloc complains Maliki has yet to accept its nominees for defence minister, promised in the coalition deal.

"We will not continue in this government if we are not real partners," Mutlaq said. "I am telling you frankly, we are taking part in the government but so far we are not partners. The reason is there are some parties in the government that have an appetite for rule and power more than for building the state."

In Thursday's address to parliament, Maliki told lawmakers they needed to do their part in reforms by urgently passing long-delayed legislation. Parliamentary foes said the prime minister's speech was long on words and short on action. "When a baby cries, you won't silence him with mere kisses. What is needed is to feed him with milk," Salman Al Jumaili, a senior Iraqiya figure, told Maliki after his speech.

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