Haider al-Abadi
Haider al-Abadi | |
|---|---|
| Born | Haider Jawad Kadhim al-Abadi April 25, 1952 Baghdad, Iraq |
| Occupation(s) | Politician, electrical engineer |
| Years active | 1967–2018 |
| Known for | Prime Minister of Iraq (2014–2018) |
Haider Jawad Kadhim al-Abadi (; born 25 April 1952) is an Iraqi statesman who held the office of Prime Minister of Iraq from September 2014 until October 2018. Prior to this, he served as the Minister of Communication between 2003 and 2004, during Iraq's initial government following the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Appointed as prime minister by President Fuad Masum on 11 August 2014 to replace Nouri al-Maliki, al-Abadi received parliamentary approval from the Iraqi parliament on 8 September 2014. He was featured in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
Al-Abadi guided Iraq through the majority of the War in Iraq (2013–2017), ultimately declaring victory over the ISIL. He concluded his term amid escalating internal unrest and widespread demonstrations in 2018.
Early life and education
Born into a Shia Arab household in Baghdad, al-Abadi’s father worked at Baghdad Neurosurgery Hospital and served as Inspector General at the Iraqi Ministry of Health. Due to disputes with the Ba'athist regime, his father was compelled to retire in 1979 and was eventually interred in the United States. Al-Abadi completed his secondary education at Central High School in Baghdad in 1970. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Baghdad’s University of Technology in 1975 and earned a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Manchester by 1980.
Career
Al-Abadi became a member of the Dawa Party in 1967. During the early 1980s, two of his brothers were killed and another imprisoned because of their involvement with the party. By 1977, he was leading the party’s branch in Britain and joined its executive council by 1979. His passport was revoked in 1983 due to his opposition to Iraq’s Ba'ath Party.
Exile
Al-Abadi stayed in the United Kingdom until the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Throughout this time, he was director general of a London-based design company focused on advanced transportation systems (1993–2003), worked as a transportation consultant (1987–2003), and headed research projects on modernization initiatives (1981–1986). In 1998, he secured a grant from the UK Department of Trade and Industry and later filed a patent concerning rapid transit technologies in 2001.
Return to Iraq
Upon returning to Iraq in 2003, al-Abadi opposed privatization efforts pushed by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), advocating for postponement until an official government was established. Together with other interim ministers, he resisted CPA pressures to prematurely privatize state-owned assets, creating friction with Paul Bremer's administration.
As Minister of Communications, al-Abadi managed licensing for three mobile network operators covering Iraq, ensuring terms that safeguarded national sovereignty over licenses and maintained the possibility for issuing a fourth license. Accusations involving Egypt-based Orascom were subsequently refuted; an investigation by the US Department of Defense found no wrongdoing by Iraqi officials but revealed illegal interference by a US official.
Between January and December 2005, he served as an advisor to Iraq’s first elected government. After being elected to Parliament in December 2005 and re-elected in 2010 representing Baghdad, he chaired committees overseeing Economy, Investment, Reconstruction, and Finance. In 2013, he played a significant role in resolving disputes related to budget allocations.
Al-Abadi was considered for the prime ministership during government formations in both 2006 and following the 2010 elections; however, it was only in 2014 that Shia parties nominated him as an alternative candidate.
In 2008, he emphasized conditions that would protect Iraqi sovereignty within agreements concerning US military presence. The Middle East Economic Digest acknowledged him as a major contributor to Iraq’s reconstruction efforts in 2009. Additionally, he participated actively in the Iraq Petroleum Advisory Committee from 2009 through 2012.
He advocated for legal proceedings against Blackwater after charges related to the killing of Iraqi civilians in 2007 were dropped.
Prime Minister (2014–2018)
On 24 July 2014, Fuad Masum assumed the presidency of Iraq and subsequently nominated al-Abadi as prime minister on 11 August. Al-Abadi was tasked with assembling a government that Parliament would approve within a 30-day timeframe. Initially, al-Maliki resisted relinquishing power, alleging a "constitutional violation," but he resigned on 14 August under mounting pressure, clearing the path for al-Abadi’s appointment. This transition in leadership contributed to a shift in Sunni Arab attitudes, fostering greater optimism toward the government’s potential for better governance.
Parliament ratified al-Abadi’s cabinet and policy agenda on 8 September 2014. Early initiatives prioritized enhancing Sunni representation; for example, he appointed Sunni politician Khaled al-Obaidi as Defense Minister, whose confirmation took two months. In December 2014, al-Abadi brokered an agreement with Kurdish authorities to allocate half of the revenues from Kurdish-controlled oil fields to the Kurdistan Regional Government. To address military corruption inherited from Maliki’s administration, he identified and removed approximately 50,000 "ghost soldiers"—personnel listed on payrolls but not actively serving.
Following Iraqi President Masum’s visit in November 2014, Saudi Arabia prepared to reopen its embassy in Baghdad. Al-Abadi also engaged diplomatically with Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey to develop coordinated regional approaches against Islamist militant groups. Four months into his tenure, Foreign Affairs commended his efforts to reduce sectarian tensions; this progress prompted the United States to commit $1.5 billion toward training Iraqi forces and to resume F-16 fighter jet sales that had been suspended since 2003.
Al-Abadi maintained a focus on combating political corruption; in August 2015, he introduced reforms that included reducing security details and curtailing benefits for high-ranking officials.
Confronted with the threat posed by the Islamic State, al-Abadi criticized the U.S. military strategy under President Barack Obama and shifted toward increased collaboration with Russia and Iran to counter IS forces.
In April 2016, political reform efforts faced significant obstacles when supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stormed the parliament building, underscoring ongoing issues of dysfunction and corruption within Iraq’s political system.
On 9 December 2017, al-Abadi announced the defeat of IS and declared an end to the Iraqi Civil War (2014-2017).
He was succeeded by Adil Abdul-Mahdi on 25 October 2018.