Friday Evening Iraq Parliament News Highlights 8-26-22
US Report: Biden’s Indifferent Policy Gave Iran The Upper Hand In Iraq
2022.08.26 Baghdad – people A US report published by the Washington Institute stressed that letting the emerging democracy in Baghdad manage itself has become a big risk, in light of Tehran’s tireless efforts to reverse the effects of the setback it suffered in last year’s elections.
The report, prepared by David Schenker, director of the Arab Politics Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, followed by “NASS” (August 26, 2022), confirmed that “after Iraqis voted bravely for parties opposing Iranian hegemony, the approach adopted by the Biden administration later, which is based on no Interfering with the government formation process will allow Iran’s leaders to turn defeat into victory.”
The report added, “For some unclear reason, it appears that Iraq – where the United States has fought two major wars in recent decades – is no longer a priority for Washington, but, unfortunately, a priority for Tehran.”
Following is the text of the report:
In light of Tehran’s relentless efforts to reverse the effects of the setback it suffered in last year’s elections, letting the emerging democracy in Baghdad manage its own affairs has become a huge risk.
About six weeks ago, US President Joe Biden bragged to the Washington Post that the Middle East is “more stable and safer” than it was when he took power from his predecessor, Donald Trump. Among the examples he cited was Iraq, where the number of missile attacks against US soldiers and diplomats declined. While he is right in terms of the decrease in the number of attacks targeting Americans, this measure alone is not sufficient to support his claim to the stability of the region. By nearly all other measures, Iraq is less stable today than it was in January 2021—and threats to American interests there have only intensified.
It is a remarkable turn of events. Just 10 months ago, Iraq did not seem ready to form a government committed to reducing the destructive role of Iran-backed militias and strengthening the country’s sovereignty in the face of its larger neighbour. Today, Iran’s political allies in Iraq have the upper hand, the country’s fragile democracy is more threatened than ever, and for the first time in a decade, the potential for violence even among Shiite groups is emerging.
But the situation could have been different. Muqtada al-Sadr was the biggest winner in the parliamentary elections that took place last October, a populist Shiite cleric who called during his election campaign to build a [free] Iraq that is not dominated by neither Washington nor Tehran. Al-Sadr’s coalition won the majority of the 329 seats in the House of Representatives, defeating the Iranian-backed Shiite Islamist parties that represent the political arms of the Popular Mobilization Forces militia.
The chest is not a panacea. In the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the “Mahdi Army” founded by Al-Sadr became one of the fiercest opponents of the US presence in Iraq, and the cleric was almost killed by US forces. However, al-Sadr has recently shown himself as a nationalist, a corruption fighter, and a critic of the military activities carried out by the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq against American diplomats and soldiers.
To be sure, we do not know whether the fickle cleric will eventually choose an Iranian-style theocracy and designate himself as the supreme guide when he comes to power. At least in the aftermath of the elections, al-Sadr was ready to form a majority-Shi’a government coalition that would include Sunnis and Kurds and exclude Iranian-backed parties. Perhaps he and his allies among the representatives were able to extend Iraqi sovereignty and fight corruption, which is a major goal of the massive protest movement that swept the country in 2019.
However, that government never saw the light of day. Iran’s allies have delayed its formation, as some reports stated that groups affiliated with the “Popular Mobilization Forces” such as “Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq”, “Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada” and “Hezbollah Brigades” threatened to overthrow the government and tried to assassinate Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, It rained missiles and drones on the Kurds, and bombed the house of Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi. Admittedly, al-Sadr and his Kurdish associates did not seize the moment, but at least they were making slow progress.
The Iranian-backed “coordinating framework” at the time – that is, Sadr’s Shiite opponents – played his trump card. To prevent al-Sadr, the Kurds, and the Sunnis who won a majority of parliament seats from choosing a prime minister and forming a government, the Iran-backed opposition used its influence on the corrupt judiciary to change the rules of the game.
For the first time, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that a simple majority was no longer sufficient to form a government, and an absolute majority of two-thirds of the representatives became a condition for that. After the 73-member Sadr bloc failed to reach this threshold, it submitted a mass resignation in June, and its seats were reallocated to parties allied with Iran.
Who planned this judicial coup? It is Nouri al-Maliki, who served as prime minister from 2006 to 2014 and who was notorious for his massive corruption and vicious sectarianism, which greatly contributed to the emergence of the Islamic State. In January 2021, it was reported that he narrowly escaped the Trump administration’s sanctions. As kingmaker, Maliki is once again in control.
It should be noted that al-Sadr and al-Maliki have been competing for leadership of the Shiite community in Iraq since at least 2008, when government forces led by al-Maliki attacked the “Mahdi Army ” that al-Sadr had established and defeated it in the “Battle of Basra.”
Given this history of hostility, al-Sadr responded to the designation of the “coordinating framework” on July 25 for Maliki’s ally Muhammad Shia al-Sudani for the position of prime minister by instructing his supporters to occupy the House of Representatives and prevent voting to elect a prime minister, which they did as required. It seemed as if al-Sadr had followed in the footsteps of the rebels who stormed Congress on January 6, 2021 in Washington.
Today, the Sadrists are no longer in the House of Representatives, but they are still present in the “international zone” (the “Green Zone”) across from the House of Representatives, to prevent the election of Al-Sudani. On the other hand, al-Sadr is calling for parliament to be dissolved and early elections held under an amended electoral law — demands opposed by the Iran-backed “coordinating framework.”
As the stalemate continues , tensions are rising among Iraq ‘s Shiites . Regardless of how to get out of this stalemate, Iran’s influence in Baghdad is likely to increase, discouraging Iraqi voters who voted overwhelmingly for change last October .
To be sure, it is not clear whether Washington can prevent this from happening. In any case, it does not appear that the US administration made a concerted effort to thwart this scenario. In the roughly nine months between the elections and the withdrawal of Sadrist representatives, public records show that senior US officials in the State Department and the National Security Council visited Iraq only twice, and that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made few calls with Iraq’s decision-makers. In an attempt to influence developments on the ground.
The distinguished new US ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski, may also have pushed for this issue to be resolved after her arrival in Baghdad last June. But as it appears, it did so without sufficient support from Washington.
The absence of a high-level US administration’s involvement in Iraq’s attempts to form a government after the elections was not an unintended omission, but rather a premeditated decision. As a senior Biden administration official said carelessly last December, the administration’s plan was to “leave the Iraqis to solve their own problems.”
Washington usually does not comment on election results in other countries, preferring instead to focus on institutional support. Unfortunately, Iraq is not an ordinary country, given that its nascent democratic government faces many difficulties under pressure from the long-established Iranian arm in Iraq – the militia of the “Popular Mobilization Forces”, which has a strength of about 100,000.
The elections in Iraq may have contributed in the end to weakening Iran’s stifling grip on the country, but the American disengagement during the process of forming the government left a void that Tehran did not delay in filling.
In contrast, IRGC Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani and other senior Iranian officials have visited Iraq at least 10 times in recent months to threaten, deceive, and convince their local partners and opponents of how to form the next government.
While the number of visits alone is not a sufficient measure of US interest, the discrepancy indicates that Washington has taken a non-interventionist approach. The US administration has not used its diplomatic and economic leverage to protect an operation that Tehran is fighting.
All of the above is notable because Iraq is important to the United States and its interests in the region. Not only did thousands of Americans lose their lives and limbs in order to help Iraq rise after Saddam Hussein’s era, but unlike Afghanistan, Iraq is a true partner in the fight against terrorism and has a real chance to become an integrated democracy. Iraq enjoys a vital geostrategic position, stores the fifth largest oil reserves in the world, and is on the front lines of confronting Iran’s efforts to expand its reach throughout the Middle East.
And as Washington appears to be getting closer and closer to a nuclear deal with Tehran, countering its meddling in Baghdad has become even more urgent — both for the United States and for its partners in the region. After Iraqis bravely voted for parties opposed to Iranian hegemony, the Biden administration’s subsequent hands-off approach to government formation allowed the mullahs to turn defeat into victory.
For some reason, it seems that Iraq – where the United States has fought two major wars in recent decades – is no longer a priority for Washington, but, unfortunately, a priority for Tehran.
https://www.nasnews.com/view.php?cat=92642
The Federal Court Sets The Date For Hearing The Lawsuit Submitted To Dissolve Parliament
Iraq 21:45 – 2022-08-25 The Federal Court has set today, Thursday, August 30, as the date for a session to consider the case submitted to dissolve Parliament.
A brief statement to the court said, “It decided to postpone the case No. 188 / Federal / 2022, submitted by the plaintiff: Nassar Zghair Al-Rubaie – Secretary General of the Sadrist bloc, in addition to his job until August 30.”
The subject matter of the case included the ruling to dissolve Parliament and oblige the President of the Republic to set a date for holding legislative elections in accordance with the provisions of Article 64 of the Constitution.
On Sunday, August 14, the Supreme Judicial Council confirmed that it does not have the power to dissolve Parliament.
The council said in a statement that “the tasks of the Judicial Council are specified under Article (3) of the Supreme Judicial Council Law No. (45) of 2017, which in its entirety relates to the administration of the judiciary only and does not include any authority that allows the judiciary to interfere in the matters of the legislative or executive authorities in application. The principle of separation between the three legislative, executive and judicial powers stipulated in Article (47) of the Constitution of the Republic of Iraq for the year 2005. https://kirkuktv.net/AR/Details/8410
Disclosure Of A Plan To Storm The Presidential Palace In Baghdad… And Sadr’s Sudden Steps Paralyze The State
Posted On2022-08-26 By Sotaliraq Friday 26 2022 – 02:00 Baghdad – Dr. Hamid Abdullah: Activists affiliated with the Sadrist movement revealed an unannounced plan to storm the golden-domed palace Where the President of the Republic is based.
Social media in Iraq was buzzing with calls urging the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, to instruct his followers to storm The Presidential Palace in Al-Jadriya Square in Baghdad, after they stormed the parliament building and held a sit-in in it and surrounded the judiciary building top and withdrew from it.[/size]
Al-Sadr’s Minister, Saleh Muhammad Al-Iraqi, hinted at sudden and surprising steps that the Sadrists will take soon, without saying that It discloses these steps.
Al-Sadr’s steps paralyzed the work of the state and stopped the economy and administration machine together because of the fears that covered everyone without exception What will happen tomorrow.
And Iraqi activist Ali Fadel, residing in London, revealed a leak of an Iraqi representative confirming that that representative had He paid a sum of 300 million Iraqi dinars ($250,000) to a judge, while a court opened Karkh in Baghdad, an urgent investigation into the matter and its merits.
The plan of the Sadrists storming the presidential palace comes against the background of news that the framework forces have chosen the presidential palace A place for an emergency session of the House of Representatives without the presence of any representative of al-Sadr.
A representative of Nuri al-Maliki’s State of Law revealed that 180 deputies had collected signatures to hold a session of Parliament. Its location will be determined at a later time.
Thaer Mikheib al-Jubouri said that the framework forces handed the speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Muhammad al-Halbousi, a list containing the signatures of 180 As a deputy for the purpose of holding a session of Parliament, Al-Halbousi agreed to it, provided that he did not attend that session.
He added that Al-Halbousi was pressured by his bloc’s deputies to attend the meeting and informed them of the approval, contrary to the desire of Al-Sadr, the main ally. for Halbousi.
According to MP Al-Jubouri, Parliament will be satisfied with legislating some important laws, such as securing the salaries of state employees, indicating that: If 220 deputies attend, Parliament will open the door to vote on the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, and then Al-Sadr’s demands have been ignored. LINK
Al-Halbousi And Al-Fayyad Discuss The Political Situation In The Country
Posted On2022-08-26 By Sotaliraq On Thursday, Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi and the head of the Popular Mobilization Authority, Faleh al-Fayyad, discussed the political situation in the country.
The media office of Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi said in a statement, “The latter met with the head of the Popular Mobilization Authority, Faleh al-Fayyad.”
The statement added that “the two sides discussed the political situation in the country, and the need to find solutions that are consistent with the stage and its requirements and contribute to overcoming the crisis.” LINK
Saleh Muhammad Al-Iraqi And The “Minister Of The Leader” .. Al-Sadr’s “Media Cell”
Posted On2022-08-26 By Sotaliraq The leader of the “Sadr movement” Muqtada al-Sadr does not own any satellite station or official newspaper issued by his religious current and his political and partisan movement, unlike the rest of the other political forces in Iraq, and he does not finance any media agencies or fake pages, such as those called “electronic armies.”
But realistically, al-Sadr is the main driver of all satellite stations and local media because of his positions, which he announces through three accounts on social media, and his supporters consider what he issues as a notification or official directives issued by Muqtada al-Sadr himself.
The leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr (49 years), publishes his positions and statements, through his personal account on “Twitter”, which bears his name, and he owns two parallel pages that actually issue directives, important details and general positions of the movement, and played a prominent role in elections, protests, social events and various religious occasions. They are the pages of “The Leader’s Minister” and “Saleh Muhammad al-Iraqi,” which represent the main media platforms of the Sadrists in Iraq, on the “Facebook” and “Twitter” platforms.
The two accounts sparked discussions of politicians in meetings and interviews, and despite much talk about these pages, the names of those who run them remain unknown, amid assurances that Al-Sadr directly supervises all posts, tweets, and even responses to comments on followers.
The prominent leader of the “Sadr movement,” Hakim al-Zamili, admitted in an interview that “the pages of the “Minister of the Leader” and “Saleh Muhammad al-Iraqi” are managed by personalities close to Muqtada al-Sadr, yet he did not acknowledge any names that run these two pages.
Several sources close to the leader of the “Sadr movement,” one of them in Najaf, confirmed that the “Minister of the Leader” account is managed by the resigned member of the Iraqi parliament from the Sadrist bloc, Hassan al-Adhari, along with another figure, while the “Saleh Muhammad al-Iraqi” page is managed by it. Sheikh Tawfiq al-Ghanimi, one of the students of the late reference Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr (the father of Muqtada al-Sadr), along with Ali al-Sadr, who is the nephew of Muqtada al-Sadr.
One of the sources confirmed that Al-Sadr personally supervises all the posts, publications and comments issued by these pages, revealing that the “Sadr Information Cell” came by order of Muqtada Al-Sadr, “in order to confront the framework media, as well as to create a new media situation that does not require large sums of money.”
Another source confirmed that the “Saleh Muhammad al-Iraqi” page was run by Muqtada al-Sadr alone, but when it became famous among the ranks of the Sadrist movement, he left it to Ali al-Sadr, who nicknamed him “Al-Shabouthi.”
About one million and one hundred thousand people follow the “Minister Al-Qaid” page on “Facebook”, while the “Saleh Muhammad Al-Iraqi” page on “Twitter” has about 850 thousand subscribers, and Muqtada Al-Sadr’s account on “Twitter” is followed by about two million people, and these accounts are The main guide of the current in all its movements and political orientations. LINK
The Preacher Of The Sadrists Advises The Judiciary: He Has To Prove His Fairness And That We Will Not Truly Leave Even After A While
Shafaq News/ Muhannad al-Moussawi, a preacher and Friday imam of the Sadrist movement’s Green Zone, advised the Iraqi judiciary that rights should be restored to the people, reiterating at the same time that the supporters of the movement went on their sit-ins until “corrupt parties are removed.”
Al-Moussawi said in the Friday prayer sermon in front of the Iraqi parliament, “This revolution will be successful and will draw the map of a new Iraq free of corrupt parties and dependency,” adding that “corruption has reached an intolerable extent and the corrupt parties can only be removed by the uprising against them.”
He added, “Let everyone know that we rose for the stolen rights,” stressing that “the people suffer from the loss of rights, and these are not my words as a plea for support and a request for aid.”
Al-Moussawi added, “Let everyone know that we do not ask for victory, glory, or power other than God, and we do not seek help from abroad,” stressing, “We do not fear anyone, and history bears witness to us, the sons of the white shroud, and the fight against the occupier.”
And the preacher of the Sadrists in the Green Zone continued, saying, “We are waiting for the judiciary to prove fairness and restore rights to the people,” addressing the judiciary by saying, “The rule is in your hands, the law is under your authority, and the constitution is under your eyes. Take it as advice that in this world we will not leave a truth even after a while.” LINK
Parliament Decision: There Is No Agreement To Hold A Session Of The House Of Representatives
Shafaq News/ Parliament Rapporteur Gharib Askar confirmed on Thursday that there is no agreement or a real date for holding a session of Parliament.
Askar told Shafaq News Agency, “The coordination framework, political blocs and the Iraqi street are all waiting for a date to hold a session of the House of Representatives,” noting that “Parliament has been inoperative for more than a month, and we need to legislate many laws, monitor the work of the caretaker government and form the new government.”
He added that “the Presidency of the House of Representatives discussed more than once to hold a session of the House of Representatives, but until this moment there is no agreement or setting a real date for holding the session.”
And Askar said, “As a member of the coordination framework, I ask Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr to give an order to the protesters to withdraw from the parliament building for the purpose of expediting the holding of the session and forming the new government,” stressing that “the parliament building is the best place to hold the session.”
Members of the coordination framework are deliberating that there is an agreement with Muhammad al-Halbousi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, to hold a session to elect the president of the republic and assign the framework candidate to form a government. LINK
The Political Crisis In Iraq: Will The Supporters Of The Sadrist Movement Close The Oil Fields?
Iraqi oil revenues, according to official data, amount to about 120 billion dollars annually (AFP)
The worsening political crisis in Iraq is heading towards new stages, after activists close to the Sadrist movement began mobilizing to close fields oil export fields in the southern provinces “to protest against corruption”, in a step that may be the most dangerous in the current crisis.
And news platforms linked to the Sadrist movement have been promoting, since Thursday morning, the Telegram application, to close the oil stations , considering that “the oil goes to the corrupt, and that the people do not benefit from the export,” stressing that “the safety of all foreign and local oil companies operating inside the fields is guaranteed.” oil when closed.
She pointed out that “the value of Iraqi oil revenues, according to official data, amounts to about 120 billion dollars annually, but the actual number is much more than that if we take into account the illegal export and smuggling of oil to neighboring countries, and that these astronomical numbers are sufficient to build a continent.”
The platforms also confirmed, “The (Petranus) field or the Al-Gharraf oil field (north of Nasiriyah) between the Shukr Castle district and Al-Rifai district produces 200,000 barrels per day, and that the leader of the Dawa Party, Kata Najiman (Abu Mujahid) dominates it,” noting that ” Closing production fields will stop 83 percent of oil exports.
Activists published the names of many fields, stressing that they will be closed, and they are in the governorates of Basra, Maysan, Nasiriyah, including the Abu Zarqan field, the Abu Gharb field in Maysan, the Rumaila fields in Basra, the Zubair field, the Qurna field, the Western Qurna field, and the giant Majnoon field in the governorate. Basra, Giant Nahr Ibn Omar Field, Halfaya Field, Giant Nasiriyah Field in Dhi Qar Governorate, Al-Gharraf Field in Dhi Qar, Sinbad Field, West Al-Kifl Field, Al-Sabbah Field, Dujaila Field, Jabal Fawki Field, Nasiriyah Fields: Heath Field, Bazerkan Fields , Fakka field (Maysan) and others.
For his part, one of the coordinators of the Sadrist sit-ins, Jassem Al-Fatlawi, said that “any directives did not arrive from the leaders of the movement to close the oil fields,” noting to “The New Arab”, that “the Sadrist movement and all the people believe that the imports of these fields go to the pockets of the parties and the corrupt and their parties, This is the reality, and the people did not get any benefits from those imports.”
He pointed out that “the movement does not take any steps without being very deliberate, aimed at preventing corruption and looting state funds and serving the people.”
The activist in the Sadrist movement, “Abu Shaham”, urged the people of the southern provinces to close all the fields, and he said in a tweet to him, “The free southern people must close all the oil fields in southern Iraq, and for the reason that the people do not benefit from them, because they go into the pockets of the corrupt… We will die honorably and not be slaves to corrupt tyrants.”
On the other hand, the Iraqi journalist, Ali Al-Jabri, said in a tweet, “Through the Sadrist platforms, it seems that the next step for the protest is to close all the oil fields! This weapon, which was the framework, especially Qais Al-Khazali (leader of the Asa’ib militia) threatens the world, will It seems that he is turning against them!”, stressing, “All previous protests, and stopping Iraqi oil in the current situation, will put Iraq in the fore again.”
And in the event that the oil fields are already closed, the crisis will enter its most dangerous stage, especially since there are armed factions and influential parties benefiting from the export and smuggling of oil, and achieving huge financial gains from it.
Concern in the Iraqi street is compounded by the continuation of the longest political crisis in the country since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, after militias and armed groups allied to Iran entered the crisis line, in alignment with the forces of the “coordinating framework” against the “Sadr movement” led by Muqtada al-Sadr, which topped the recent elections. conducted on the 10th of October of last year. LINK
