Early Life and Education
Mohamed Tawfiq Allawi was born on June 1, 1954, in Baghdad. He would spend his formative years in Iraq’s capital city where he would attend primary, middle and high school. The University of Baghdad should have been the place of his alma mater, as this is where he started his degree in architecture. However, the Safar Uprising in 1977 caused him to cut his bachelor’s career in Iraq short as he fled to neighboring Lebanon. Fortunately, he was able to finish his degree at the American University of Beirut and graduated in 1980. Afterward, he migrated to the UK seeking work and freedom of expression.
Entry into Iraqi Politics
Saddam Hussein’s regime would often get in the way of Allawi’s business ventures, shortly before fleeing Baghdad he founded the Tawfiq Allawi Cable & Electric Wire Factory which manufactured various raw materials including marble, concrete, and PVC. However, Iraqi authorities would shut down his company in 1997. Needless to say, this incident, as well as the horrors he witnessed during the 1977 Uprising, did not make him a fan of the Hussein regime.
Shortly after Hussein was toppled in 2003, Allawi would make his entry into Iraqi politics. Ever since Hussein’s reign ended, the Allawi family became a staple in Iraqi politics, for instance, Eyad Hisham Allawi was the first transitional Prime Minister after Saddam Hussein’s removal and Ali Abd El Amir Allawi was the former Minister of Commerce, Minister of Defense and was one of the nominees to succeed Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi.
From Parliamentarian to Principled Minister
Allawi was first elected as an MP in 2005. He was appointed the Minister of Communications twice, once from May 2006 to August 2007, and then again from 2010 to 2012. He resigned from his post during both tenures in protest of the sectarian policies of former Prime Minister al-Maliki.
New Role as Transitional Prime Minister
In October 2019, Iraq was rocked by popular anti-government protests demanding the end of the government’s rule. To appease the protestors, Prime Minister Abdel Mahdi resigned from his post and President Burhan Salih would subsequently pick Allawi to be the new transitional leader. Allawi was most likely chosen because of his reputation for attempting to implement anti-corruption policies during his ministerial career, and one of the protestors’ demands is an end to the government’s corruption.
Tough Times Ahead
As Prime Minister, Allawi will have a tough task ahead of him. Parliament will need to approve his choices for various government posts. Afterward, he will need to find a way to curb the cases of corruption that has been plaguing the Iraqi government for over a decade. As the current Iraqi government is ranked as one of the most corrupt ones in the world, that won’t be an easy task.
