Spent the afternoon with an old friend, Mazin Makiya. He was Provincial Council Chairman when I first met him in July 2005. In December, he was voted out of office by the opposition party in the council. It was a huge personal and professional setback. Losing in politics is tough business anywhere, but here in Baghdad the consequences can be dire indeed. He left the country and those of us who were working with him at the time were concerned that his political career was over. He was an effective and compassionate leader and unlike many, seemed to have a vision of the future that held more than his personal aggrandizement. I thought to myself that if someone like Mazin would return to Baghdad and re-enter politics, there would be hope for Iraq.
Mazin did return, and has been leading the opposition bloc in the PC since then. I had dinner with him when I got back here in February and he explained his new committee assignment. He leads a new committee, called the Strategic Vision Committee, which has been tasked to assess Baghdad's long term infrastructure needs and develop implementation and funding plans. It seems an appropriate fit for Mazin. Today we talked about his plans to organize a new political coalition. Everybody loves a comeback story.
