UN: Iraqi prime minister faces 'immense challenges'

The Iraqi prime minister faces "immense challenges" in trying to reconcile and broaden the political process in his country, Jan Kubis, the top United Nations official in Iraq told the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

Haider al-Abadi has been struggling to exercise authority since taking power a year ago, while his opponents have grown stronger, Kubis said, as he presented the latest UN report on the country. 

The Slovak diplomat also said reforms had failed to meet public expectations.

Iraq is also suffering from a fiscal crisis and a growing budget deficit

"Despite hopes that he would be able to move national reconciliation forward and bring the broader Sunni community into the political process, the prime minister's efforts have been obstructed by elements within all Iraqi components, the main reasons being lack of trust and vested interests," said Kubis.

Iraq is also suffering from a fiscal crisis and a growing budget deficit due to a steep drop in global oil prices, which has highlighted a need for urgent economic reform.

Kubis called on the Iraqi government, its foreign partners and international and regional financial institutions to take urgent measures to address these challenges.

The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, which Kubis also heads, is reportedly standing "ready to assist all efforts to promote an inclusive reconciliation process that uphold respect for Iraq's unity, sovereignty and constitutional order".

The diplomat said that although the Islamic State group had been successfully pushed back in the centre of the country, it continued "to possess the funding and military capacities to prolong its reign of terror over large swathes of Iraq".

Despite this, 155,000 people have returned home to the city of Tikrit after it was retaken from IS which had displaced nearly all its population.

The Kurdistan region has been a source of stability and development, but it too is seen as having the potential to be destabilised by disagreements between major political parties.

The humanitarian situation is another major concern, especially due to cuts to UN programmes in support of internally displaced Iraqis.

Kubis argued that providing humanitarian support to Iraqis at the point of origin was vital in helping to reduce the numbers fleeing the country.