Adil Abdul-Mahdi al-Muntafiki (, born 1 January 1942) is an

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as

Prime Minister of Iraq The prime minister of the Republic of Iraq is the head of government of Iraq and the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces. On 27 October 2022, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani became the incumbent prime minister. History The prime minist ...

from October 2018 until May 2020. Abdul-Mahdi is an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and was one of the vice presidents of Iraq from 2005 to 2011. He formerly served as

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

in the

Interim government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revolut ...

and Oil Minister from 2014 to 2016. Abdul-Mahdi is a former member of the powerful Shi'a party the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, or SIIC. Long based in neighboring

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, the group opposed a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

administration while holding close ties with the other, U.S.-backed, groups that opposed

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

, including the

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

and the Iraqi National Congress. Abdul-Mahdi submitted his formal resignation as prime minister in November 2019, following widespread protests over political corruption and violent police responses.

Background

Mahdi was born in Baghdad in 1942, the son of a Shiite

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, Abdul-Mahdi, originally from

Dhi Qar Governorate Dhi Qar Governorate (, ) is a governorate in southern Iraq, in the Arabian Peninsula. The provincial capital is Nasiriyah. Prior to 1976 the governorate was known as Muntafiq Governorate. Thi Qar was the heartland of the ancient Iraqi civilizatio ...

, who was the Minister of Education in Iraq's

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

, and a mother from

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. He attended high school at

Baghdad College Baghdad College () is an elite high school for boys aged 11 to 18 in Baghdad, Iraq. It was initially a Catholic school founded by and operated by American Jesuits from Boston. The 1969 Iraqi government nationalization and expulsion of Jesuit tea ...

, an elite American Jesuit secondary school. After graduating, he attended Baghdad University, where he earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

in 1963. He worked as a secretary for the Iraqi foreign ministry in 1965 and was an early supporter of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, but left due to ideological disagreements. In 1969, he moved to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

where he worked for French

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

s and edited magazines in French and Arabic. In 1972 he obtained another

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in political economy from the

University of Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; , ) is a public university located in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest student/inhabitant ratio in France ...

. He later obtained a PhD in economics. Abdul-Mahdi is a French citizen, as are his children, and he returned to Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Political career

In the 1970s, Abdul-Mahdi was a leading member of the

Iraqi Communist Party The Iraqi Communist Party ( '; ) is a communist party and the oldest active party in Iraq. Since its foundation in 1934, it has dominated the left in Iraqi politics. It played a prominent role in shaping the political history of Iraq between it ...

. The party split into two separate factions, the ICP-Central Committee, which was more accommodating of the military governments that had ruled Iraq since 1958, and the ICP-Central Leadership, which rejected all forms of cooperation of what it regarded as anti-progressive regimes, in 1967. Abdul-Mahdi joined the ICP-Central Leadership, and continued being active until he was expelled in and formed his own

splinter A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...

claiming to be the legitimate ICP-Central Leadership. Both the ICP-Central Leadership and Abdul-Mahdi's splinter gradually disappeared by the early 1980s. By that time, Abdul-Mahdi adopted

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ideas, eventually merging with the Islamists when

Ayatollah Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...

eradicated the communists and liberal opposition groups in

. Abdul-Mahdi continued his association with Iran and gradually amalgamated his group within the ICP-Central Leadership with the Iranians, rejecting his

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

past and devoting all his group's time to propagating Khomeini's ideas in

, where he lived at the time. He eventually was made a member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, an exiled opposition party and militia that was formed by Iran in Tehran in 1982 but composed exclusively of Iraqi exiles. In 2006, Abdul-Mahdi, outgoing Vice President in the

transitional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

, unsuccessfully ran for the United Iraqi Alliance's nomination for Prime Minister against incumbent

Ibrahim al-Jaafari Ibrahim Abdul Karim al-Eshaiker (; born 25 March 1947), better known as Ibrahim al-Jaafari, is an Iraqi politician who was Prime Minister of Iraq in the Iraqi Transitional Government from 2005 to 2006, following the January 2005 Iraqi parliamenta ...

. He lost by one vote. He was reportedly considered to be a possibility for Prime Minister once again until

Nouri al-Maliki Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki (; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is an Iraqi politician and leader of the Islamic Dawa Party since 2007. He served as the Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and as Vice President ...

became the UIA nominee. Subsequently, Abdul-Mahdi was re-elected as

Vice President of Iraq Iraq has had three vice presidents or deputy presidents serving concurrently. The office of Vice President was historically largely ceremonial but prestigious. In post-war Iraq, the Constitution of Iraq, in its "Transitional Guidelines," crea ...

. He exerted his limited authority in that role by delaying the first meeting of the National Assembly in March. He resigned from his position as vice-president on 31 May 2011. In December 2006, the Associated Press reported that Abdul-Mahdi could be the next Prime Minister of Iraq if a new multi-sectarian coalition succeeded in toppling the government of

. On 26 February 2007, he survived an assassination attempt that killed ten people. He had been targeted two times prior. In 2009, his bodyguards were the perpetrators of a bloody bank robbery in Baghdad. In July 2013, Abdul-Mahdi announced his decision to give up his retirement pensions as a former vice president. On 2 October 2018, Iraqi president Barham Salih selected Abdul-Mahdi to be the Prime Minister of Iraq. Mahdi had 30 days to form a new government. On 25 October 2018, Abdul Mahdi was sworn into office, five months after the

2018 elections The following elections occurred in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 *2018 Sierra Leonean general election 7 and 31 ...

. In April 2019, Abdul-Mahdi met with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He announced a $14 billion plan to upgrade Iraq's electricity infrastructure, with likely cooperation with German company

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

. Merkel also pledged to strengthen economic and security cooperation between the two countries, and to continue German support for reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

Resignation

On 29 November 2019, after weeks of violent protests, Mahdi stated that he would resign from his post.Iraq unrest: PM Abdul Mahdi to resign after bloodiest day in protests
- BBC(29 December 2019) The Iraqi parliament approved his resignation on 1 December 2019.

References

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdul-mahdi, Adil 1942 births Iraqi Communist Party politicians Iraqi Shia Muslims Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq politicians Living people Oil ministers of Iraq Politicians from Baghdad Vice presidents of Iraq Iraqi expatriates in France Finance ministers of Iraq Prime ministers of Iraq People expelled from public office Iraqi people of Syrian descent University of Poitiers alumni University of Baghdad alumni