Ibrahim Jaafari

Dr. al-Jaafari held the position of Prime Minister in 2005 as the first elected Prime Minister of Iraq, following the general elections in which the Iraqi people participated in an unprecedented intensity on the 30th of January 2005. He was a leader of the Shi'a Islamic Dawaa Party, which staged a revolt in the 1970's against Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime. An estimated 77,000 of its members were killed before the rebellion ended in 1982. By then, Dr. al-Jaafari had fled Iraq for Iran and later moved to London. He returned to Iraq in April 2003 after Saddam's ouster.

Ibrahim Jaafari was born in Karbala 25 March 1947 into a family that claims direct descent from Muhammad. He earned his medical degree from Mosul University. In addition to the study, he worked with his older brother, Muhammad, in commerce in the Karbala market, where the market provided an opportunity for Jaafari to continue a special social activity, so that the market experience and the process of dealing with people is a contributing factor in building his social and leadership personality, the market was not a source of livelihood, and an area to deal with people only Rather, it constituted an incentive to learn about the world of economics and politics, and a tributary of the tributaries of the political culture, because of the interrelationship and impact of the relationship between politics and its fluctuations and the prices of goods on the market. Al-Jaafari married in 1974, and had two sons and three daughters. Dr. Jaafari joined the Dawa movement in 1966 and was elected in 1980 as a member of the leadership of the Islamic Dawa Party. The group, the oldest Islamist movement in Iraq, was founded in the late 1950s and is based on the ideology of reforming Islamic thought and modernizing religious institutions. The party was banned by Saddam Hussein in 1980, forcing Dr. Jaafari to leave Iraq with his family in 1980 in February, heading to Syria, and from there to Iran until 1990, then London until 2003. He was elected as an official spokesman for the Islamic Dawa Party. He participated in the formation and leadership of (the joint action committee of the Iraqi opposition) in 1991. He is a former Iraqi Governing Council member.

The Iraqi Interim Government was announced on 01 June 2004, including the President, two Deputy Presidents, the Prime Minister, and the Council of Ministers. The Iraqi Interim Government assumed sovereignty June 30, and would serve until a government is elected no later than January 31, 2005. One of the Deputy Presidents was Dr. Ibrahim Jaafari.

After winning a majority of seats in Iraq's new national assembly, the combined Shi'a parties picked their candidate for prime minister: Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who had served in high office since the Americans occupied Iraq. On 07 March 2005, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, of the Shi’ite United Iraqi Alliance, is chosen as interim prime minister. The vote is followed by indignation from Sunni leaders – and intensive insurgent attacks – who complain of US coalition interference in the division of parliamentary seats. After months of deadlock, a cabinet was approved ushering in Iraq's first elected government since the fall of Saddam Hussein. But many political disputes remain unresolved.

Ibrahim al-Jaafari is described by al-Hayat's Washington bureau chief, Salameh Nematt, as more political than ideological. "He's a moderate Islamist and a shrewd politician. He's capable of building alliances. He does have strong support among Iraqis on a popular level. According to one public opinion poll, he was number one among the candidates."

Phoebe Marr at the U.S. Institute for Peace says Dr. al-Jaafari's inclusive political style reflects the Daawa party's effort to reach far beyond its original base of support. "He represents a religious party which has always had a strong lay component. Its leadership is not necessarily cleric. So there's a certain amount of secularism and willingness to compromise. Daawa also has a reputation of being an Iraqi party not so tied to Iran."

Kurdish political official Qubad Talabani says the Shi'a parties' choice for prime minister faces the daunting task of reconciling Iraq's many factions. Mr. Talabani also says that a close Shi'a alliance with the elections' second-biggest winner, the Kurds, would create an effective government. "Ibrahim al-Jaafari is a known quantity to most who are in the Iraqi opposition. The question now is whether this gentleman can actually work with the other elements of Iraqi society. The fact that the Shi'a bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance, did not get the overwhelming majority that it sought means that the Kurdish bloc can play a pivotal role here."

Once confirmed as prime minister, Dr. al-Jaafari would have to reach across many divisions to unify the government and Iraq. A prominent Sunni official, Iraqi Minister of Industry Hachem al-Hassani, said that the nominee knows the scope of that challenge and the Sunni are not easily reconciled with the Shi'a victory. "Dr. al-Jaafari understands that Iraq has three components - Shi'a, Sunni, and Kurd. Besides, he faces a very strong secular group in Iraq. It's not going to be easy to deal with him and the alliance until we have a constitution and we have another election."

Adnan Ali al-Khadimi had unofficially usurped the role of Chief of Staff in September 2005 and succeeded in maintaining his status. Adnan Ali was a selfless, dedicated, tireless worker, who never lefts the office before 2AM. Adnan Ali was the only policy and decision-maker on the Jaafari team. With the exception of Dawa party paperwork, all paper crossed his desk before it reached Jaafari. Problematic to this arrangement is the creation of a bottleneck in decision-making and implementation.

In contrast to Adnan Ali, Abdul Aziz Temimi came to work late and left early. Temimi had not battled Adnan Ali to regain his position as Chief Advisor to the PM. He was rarely consulted on matters of state, took his leisurely time at work, was pleasant to everyone and claims he works on Dawa business. Most staffers had no idea what he does.

President of the Iraqi Red Crescent Dr. Said Hakki was considered one of Jaafari's senior advisors. Hakki was a very hard worker and focused his efforts on humanitarian assistance and dealing with the western media. He directly reported to Adnan Ali. Another hard worker was Advisor Emad Dhia. He too directly reported to Adnan Ali. Dhia's main charge was interacting with the British and US EmbOffs on Iraq Reconstruction. Both Dhia and Hakki were dedicated workers devoted to helping Iraq. A tier lower than Dhia and Hakki was Advisor Haider al-Abadi, who did whatever Adnan Ali assigned him to do. Recently he was assigned as the main interlocutor.

Public statements are crafted by Adnan Ali and given to the PM spokesperson Laith Kubba to issue. Kubba resented Adnan Ali's rise to power. Kubba did not heed repeated suggestion to use "the Prime Minister thinks" instead of "I think" in his broadcasts. Laith is a bit self-absorbed, spending all his time on his own campaign and public press releases, ignoring PM business. PM Jaafari was a gentleman for refusing Kubba's resignation, when Laith decided to leave the DAWA party and start his own.

Cabinet General Secretary Dr. Zuhair Abbas al-Khidr was responsible for the more "shady" aspects of PM business. In the opinion of some, Government Communications Director (GCD) Mohammed al-Asadi was the most corrupt man on the PM's team. Rumors abound that al-Asadi had his hand in militias, targeted attacks on politicians and govrnment fficials. Al-Asadi is working to consolidate his power by hiring his relatives. Many of the staffers in the PM's office fear Zuhair Abbas al-Khidr, but they are even more nervous around al-Asadi. Dr. Abbas frequently liaised with al-Asadi.

The Iraqi political process was deadlocked over the nomination of interim Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to hold this position for four years, in the country's first post-Saddam Hussein government. Kurdish and Sunni Arab factions say he must step down because he has not done enough to end sectarian violence. But Mr. Jaafari's withdrawal cleared the way for the naming of Jawad al-Maliki to the post - breaking the political stalemate. A protracted leadership vacuum led to Nuri al-Maliki's rise.

Al-Jaafari was able to achieve great accomplishments within seven months of his rule, by starting with developing large-scale development projects; To advance collapsed infrastructure, bypass the heavy legacy of the legacy system in the fields of education, health, the army and police, transportation and communications, human rights institutions and civil society, in addition to preparing the requirements for preparing and adopting the (permanent constitution) for Iraq, and successfully electing the permanent (parliament) in Security procedures also successful as well as great interest in media professionals, poets, artists, writers and athletes, and laid the foundations of the rule of law, and contributed to the consolidation of the foundations of the new Iraqi state

By 2007 Ibrahim al-Jaafari and senior Shia Independent CoR legislator Qassim Daoud wer working to form a non-sectarian coalition with the aim of unseating Prime Minister al-Maliki. They claimed they had received the blessing of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and other senior Shia clerics to build a "new" United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the Shia coalition formed in 2005, and Jaafari and Qassim want to move the "new" UIA away from a sectarian grouping into a nationalist-oriented coalition that includes Sunnis and Kurds.

Jaafari was working overtime behind the scenes to oust Maliki and regain the PM position he once occupied, but it was a testament to Jaafari's indirect and slippery rhetorical style that, just as he was careful to never mention Maliki by name, he avoided any discussion of his own ambitions and designs. Rather, he relied on the constant but implied comparison between himself and Maliki. The closest he came to revealing his ambition and perception of self came near the end of the meeting when he intoned dramatically that "the Iraqi people demand that the great ones among them occupy positions of greatness."

Iraq's January 2009 provincial elections represented a milestone in the country's political progression. In general, the campaigns have been competitive, sometimes Sharply so. Political parties and local officials in most regions have perceived the election commission to be competent and fair, if not perfect. Dr. Ibrahim Jaafari's National Reform Trend may gain enough seats to become influential in some provinces.

Fulfilling predictions, a brand new political coalition, the "Iraq Unity Alliance (IUA)," was unveiled to the public on 22 October 2009 at a press conference at Baghdad's Babylon Hotel. Composed of 20-plus groups/parties, the IUA is headlined by Minister of Interior Bolani, Sons of Iraq/Sahwa leader Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha, and Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Ghafoor al-Sammara'ie, head of the Sunni Waqf (Religious Endowment). Other more prominent members include Saadon al-Dulaimi, a Minister of Defense under former PM Ibrahim al-Jaafari, and Ahmed al-Barrak, head of the Commission for the Resolution of Real Property Disputes and wealthy businessman, whose deep pockets will reportedly supply campaign cash.

Ibrahim al-Jaafari, head of the National Reform Movement, stated 07 NOvember 2019: "The demonstrations are an expression of the demand for every lost right, violated dignity, stolen money, corrupt policy, and obscene foreign interference !! .. The use of weapons against demonstrators should be prohibited, the families of martyrs will be visited and taken care of ... and the abolition of the "bad-name" quotas in government formations."

On 03 January 2020 al-Jaafari stated: "The blood of the two martyrs, Hajj Qassem Soleimani and Haji Abi Mahdi, the engineer, is an affirmation of the reality of human cohesion in the face of injustice and oppressors ... a post-event hurricane will not be less than the displacement of the heads of crime and the perpetrators of the indecent assault !! .."