Friday Afternoon Iraq Parliament News Highlights 9-9-22
Al-Sadr: Returning To Parliament Is Strictly And Absolutely Prohibited
He said that the ball is in the court of allies and independents, and the dissolution of the council is possible without the bloc
The Independent Arabic Thursday 8 September 2022 17:23 The statement said that the current “is aware of the many pressures on our allies, but the sacrifice in order to end the suffering of an entire people is also commendable and required” (AFP)
Today, Thursday, September 8, Muqtada al-Sadr resolved his current position on returning to the Iraqi parliament , stressing that “the Sadrist bloc has withdrawn.”
Al-Sadr said in a statement by Saleh Muhammad al-Iraqi, known as “the leader’s minister,” that “the ball is in the allies’ court to end the suffering of the people.”
The statement added, “Some of the lovers are seeking, by legal means, to return the Sadrist bloc to Parliament,” and pointed out that “the first expected result of the withdrawal of the Sadrist bloc is to block all ways to conform to the so-called coordinating framework, as my example does not agree with them at all,” stressing that “returning The bloc to the House of Representatives has the possibility, even if weak, of finding this consensus, and it is forbidden to us.”
Al-Iraqi indicated that the return of the current to the council would be a political blockage once again, and that “there is no need for us to return, but as soon as the Sunni and Kurdish allies withdraw as well as the independents, the parliament will lose its legitimacy and will be dissolved directly.”
The statement said that the movement “is aware of the large number of pressures on our allies, but the sacrifice in order to end the suffering of an entire people is also commendable and required. It is the people, not the movement, who refuse to rotate faces and re-manufacture a corrupt government again. The ball is in the allies’ court, not in the court of the Sadrist bloc.”
The Minister of the Leader explained that “the final opinion on the issue of the return of the Sadrist bloc to the House of Representatives is that it is absolutely and absolutely forbidden, under any pretext, as the corrupt reject a government, neither eastern nor western, with a national majority, and we categorically reject a consensual government.”
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The statement indicated that “the dissolution of Parliament is possible without the return of the Sadrist bloc, especially with the presence of its allies in the House of Representatives and some independents who are currently on the hill,” calling on allies and independents to take a “courageous stance that ends the entire crisis.”
Al-Iraqi indicated that “the solution at that time will not be current, but rather the dissolution of parliament will be national, Sunni, Shiite, Kurdish and independent, so that the President and Prime Minister remain at the head of a caretaker government and to supervise early elections or with the help of others, Iraqis or internationals.”
The statement stressed that “there is no need to resort to the current or framework in solving the problem, for the keys are with the first to solve and contract, not with the (politicized judiciary), nor with (the feared courts) nor with the (withdrawing chest bloc).” LINK
The Interactions Of The Hour.. The Constitution Requires The Formation Of The Government Before Any Solution To Parliament, And The Interests Of Sunnis And Kurds Prevent Them From Withdrawing
Baghdad/The Obelisk: The Obelisk Agency published the most prominent interviews via satellite channels, Thursday 08/09/2022.
Member of the State of Law Coalition, Adel Al-Manea, during a televised interview:
– The Sadrist movement made mistakes in its speech
– The movement was convinced that the political forces are going with the framework by holding the session
– Al-Kazemi, the spoiled prime minister of the Sadrist movement
– There is a contradiction in the Sadrist movement’s rhetoric
– The framework will not allow elections in the presence of the Al-Kazemi government
– There is international acceptance of the outcomes of the national dialogue
– Political interests prevent the Kurds and Sunnis from withdrawing
– Salih Muhammad al-Iraqi is a fictitious figure
– The Shiite confrontation will not happen
– There is no guarantor in Iraq at the moment except the reference
– The past two weeks have witnessed the dissolution of the political half-decade
– Parliament will hold a session after the fortieth visit
– The framework postponed the session for technical reasons related to To reform the parliament building
– the current must form a recognized committee to undertake dialogue with partners
Personalities claiming to be leaders in the movement may appear due to the lack of negotiators
Legal expert Jamal Al-Asadi during a televised interview:
– The Federal Court established a constitutional custom by its decision yesterday
– Party work in parliamentary systems is a necessity and not a desire
– Dissolving Parliament is subject to controls and is not done by moods
– Dissolution of Parliament before forming a constitutionally violating government
– Kurdish and Sunni forces are not with elections currently being held
– The Sadrist movement wants to exclude the framework by any means Method
– The status of a speaking person is one of the ways of the line of return
– The political process needs more than one guarantor
– The Federal Court has distanced itself from imposing sanctions on Parliament
– The situation in Iraq will move towards a solution within 40 days
– Parliament will hold its session within 20 days
– Early elections will not Produces a solution
– the government will not be temporary and will be led by a figure who enjoys the approval of all parties
– Kurdish and Sunni forces participated in creating the Shiite rift
The Director General of Literacy Eradication in the Ministry of Education, Muayyad Al-Obaidi, during a televised interview:
– Iraq has previous experiences in eradicating the phenomenon of illiteracy at the end of the seventies, where it succeeded in completely eradicating this scourge with the testimony of UNESCO
– The return of the spread of illiteracy in the nineties was due to wars and economic deterioration
– since 2012, more than 6 thousand centers have been opened and more than 500 thousand students have joined
The number of beneficiaries in general since the launch of the campaign in 2012 until now from all literacy programs has reached more than two million students and studies https://almasalah.com/archives/16685
Al-Maliki’s Coalition Calls On Al-Sadr’s Allies To Play The Role Of Mediator Between The Current An
Article at link
American Efforts To Get Iraq Out Of Its Political Crisis
September 09 2022 مساع أميركية لإخراج العراق من أزمته السياسية
The importance and timing of Mrs. Lev’s visit?
Barbara Leaf warned that the Iraqi political scene is “on the edge of the abyss.” What does this mean for America?
Is Iraq still on Washington’s security priorities, and how can American national security be threatened in the event that the situation in Iraqi politics deteriorates and heads to the “abyss”? LINK
“The New York Times” Writes About The Repercussions Of The Clashes: One Factor Prevents The “Collapse Of Iraq”!
Baghdad – IQ The report sheds light on the repercussions of the political crisis and its impact on basic services and the education sector in Iraq.
The report, published by the New York Times, and translated by IQ News , notes that “the crisis is exacerbating the impact of rampant corruption on public services or the life of a quarter of the population that the government estimates live in poverty.”
Report text:
On most days in the Iraqi capital, jackhammers and electric drills provide the soundtrack to a construction boom, as multi-story restaurants take shape and the new $800 million Central Bank building rises above the horizon .
But this apparent prosperity in parts of Baghdad belies what many Iraqi officials and citizens see as the crumbling foundation of the state – an oil-rich Middle Eastern country that the United States intended to be free and democratic when it led an invasion 19 years ago to topple dictator Saddam Hussein .
After the invasion, Iraq’s long-marginalized Shiite Muslim majority dominated the government, and a power struggle between Shiite and Sunni political groups fueled a sectarian war.
Now, in a grave threat to the country’s already fragile stability, rival Shiite armed groups, most famously linked to neighboring Iran, are fighting each other outside the control of the central government .
“Internally and externally, and at the political and security level, Iraq is now a failed state,” said Saad Iskandar, an Iraqi historian. The Iraqi state cannot impose its authority on its lands or its people.”
Iraq’s weaknesses surfaced again sharply last week when the deadlock over forming a new government – nearly a year after the last elections – erupted into violence in the heart of the capital .
Followers of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stormed the heavily guarded Green Zone in an anti-government protest after al-Sadr announced his withdrawal from politics. Then rival Shiite paramilitaries loyal to Iran on the public payroll began shooting at the protesters, and armed members of Sadr’s movement appeared to fight them .
After the prime minister ordered that protesters not be shot, government security forces were largely sidelined as rival militias fought them off. After two days of fighting that left 34 people dead, al-Sadr ordered his followers to withdraw from the Green Zone, restoring an uneasy calm .
The roots of the violence lie in the deadlock over government formation that has persisted since the elections in October 2021. Sadr’s followers won the largest bloc of seats in parliament, although this was not enough to form a government without coalition partners.
When he failed to form a governing coalition, the main Iran-backed parties with paramilitary wings—Shiite political rivals to Mr. Sadr—intervened and tried to marginalize him .
Then al-Sadr turned to his power in the street rather than sitting at the negotiating table, and ordered his followers to set up a protest camp in Parliament—a tactic he used in the past .
“If we discuss post-2003 Iraq, we have to say that it has never been a functioning state,” said Maria Fantabi of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, a conflict management organization based in Switzerland. We’ve never had a prime minister with complete control over our security forces or borders.”
Iraq has not collapsed thanks in large part to the country’s vast oil wealth. But most citizens never see the benefit of this wealth, as they suffer daily electricity cuts, dilapidated schools, and a lack of health care or even clean water .
Last month, respected Finance Minister Ali Allawi resigned with a stark warning that staggering levels of corruption were draining Iraq’s resources and posing an existential threat .
“Extensive secret networks of high-ranking officials, corrupt businessmen and politicians are working in the shadows to control entire sectors of the economy and literally withdraw billions of dollars from the public treasury,” Allawi wrote in his resignation letter to the prime minister. “This gigantic octopus of corruption and deceit has reached every sector of the country’s economy and institutions: it must be dismantled at any cost if this country is to survive.”
Allawi, who also served as finance minister in 2006, said he was shocked to see “to what extent the machinery of government has deteriorated” under the dominance of special interest groups linked to various countries in the region .
“You have people who travel to Tehran, travel to Oman, travel to Ankara, travel to the United Arab Emirates, travel to Qatar,” he said in an interview with the New York Times in June. Previously, they used to fly to Washington, but they no longer do that.”
Meanwhile, the United States has increasingly withdrawn from the Arab world, focusing primarily on containing Iran and promoting normalization with Israel. For years, the country, which has been the target of hostility due to its occupation of Iraq, appears to be losing importance as Shiite militias fight for supremacy .
Iraq is located on the fourth largest oil reserves in the world, and oil revenues fueled corruption and supported the economy .
According to government and local officials, militias and tribal groups are draining customs revenue from the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr on the Gulf. The crossings along the 1,000-mile border with Iran are another source of illicit revenue.
Iran-backed militias in Iraq control sectors such as scrap metal, extort payments for protection from companies, and government contracts are another major source of corruption .
The Iraqi Ministry of Health, traditionally run by officials loyal to Mr. Sadr, is the monopoly buyer of nearly half of the medicines imported into Iraq, and is considered one of the most corrupt, according to Iraqi officials and outside experts .
Three years ago, Alaa Alwan, a former official at the World Health Organization, resigned as health minister, saying he could no longer fight corruption in the ministry or ward off threats .
In his June interview when he was still finance minister, Mr. Allawi described a country that had essentially become ungovernable .
“You can do nothing but manage the day-to-day affairs, given that in this country, there is a crisis every day,” he said.
With the war in Ukraine causing oil prices to soar, state revenue recently came from oil exports – a lack of diversification that could prove disastrous as the world increasingly turns to alternative energy sources .
But with ministries dysfunctional and central government weak, there is no real effort to improve public services or the lives of a quarter of the population that the government estimates live in poverty .
Large parts of the country suffer from a lack of electricity or clean water, an ongoing crisis that fueled widespread protests three years ago, which led to the downfall of the government .
Few sectors are so blatantly dysfunctional as the country’s once-respected education system. For nearly seven years, thousands of temporary teachers have been working without pay, waiting for an opportunity to be hired by the Ministry of Education. The ministry has now started making payments .
Schools are so overcrowded that they work in shifts, offering only half a day of classes to students. Many schools lack running water or adequate toilets. Most of them are lucky if they have fans at half the boiling point.
More than half of Iraqi students drop out before high school. In Baghdad and other cities, out-of-school children push wooden carts in outdoor markets or water bottles to drivers in traffic.
“ We have not received new textbooks this year,” said Umm Zahra, a primary school teacher who was doing paperwork at the Ministry of Education this week. “We are trying to use old names,” she added, saying she did not want to reveal her full name because she did not have her husband’s permission to speak .
Umm Zahra said her own neighborhood in Baghdad, the second largest city in the Middle East, had not had regular running water since 2014 .
There is so little confidence in the political system that voter turnout in Baghdad was about 30 percent in the last elections.
Many expect the same corrupt politicians to remain in power thanks to the post-2003 regime that guarantees key positions to specific religious and ethnic groups .
With neighboring Iran and Turkey frequently violating Iraqi sovereignty, the weakness of the Iraqi government and state institutions poses a threat to regional stability — as happened in 2014 when the Iraqi army collapsed in the face of an Islamic State offensive that occupied large parts of the country .
Historian Iskandar said Iraq’s instability can be traced back to before Saddam’s overthrow, when it lost control of some of its borders and territory in the Iran-Iraq war. But he said he still had hope that the country could survive “Changing leaders – changing generations – is the only way,” Iskandar said.
