Tuesday AM Iraq Parliament News Highlights 10-18-22
Negotiations To Form The Iraqi Government: Political Forces Determine Their Conditions
Baghdad fair deputies October 17 2022 Parties in the “Coordination Council” demanded an end to the US presence in Iraq (Yunus Kilis/Anadolu Agency)
Yesterday, Sunday, Iraqi political forces revealed that they had written the conditions required of the government of Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani in exchange for a vote of confidence, stressing that they had informed the “coordinating framework” forces that they sought to be a partner in the decision and not only in government positions.
Al-Sudani began the movement to form his government by conducting dialogues and negotiations with the political blocs and parties, amid an emphasis on accelerating the process of forming the government in the near future, due to the great political support that Al-Sudani receives from all parties.
Hassan al-Jubouri, a member of the “Sovereignty” coalition, representing the Sunni Arabs in Iraq, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the most important conditions for the Sunni Arab political forces are that they “be a key partner in decisions and not just participate in the government.”
Hassan Al-Jubouri: The most important conditions for the Sunni Arab political forces to be a key partner in decisions
Al-Jubouri added that “the conditions currently being raised, which were put before Al-Sudani, are to reveal the fate of the disappeared and the kidnapped, to return all the displaced, to compensate all those affected, and to end the file of accountability and justice, as well as a general amnesty for all innocents in Iraqi prisons.”
He considered that “these demands will be the negotiating paper for the formation of the new government. Al-Sudani’s acceptance of them, and then the failure to implement them after forming his government, will push us to take decisions and political positions towards his government. It is not possible to accept the delay of these demands during the next stage.”
Re-opening the file of the American presence in Iraq
Amid political assertions of the existence of a specific demands paper that also includes the issue of restoring balance within state departments and institutions according to the population distribution in Iraq, in reference to the sectarian and component imbalance due to the policies of previous governments, specifically the governments of Nuri al-Maliki between 2006 and 2014, a deputy from the “Coordination Framework” coalition said. To Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, some of the coalition parties have reopened the issue of the American presence in Iraq and the importance of turning its page completely.
Negotiations to form the Iraqi government: political forces determine their conditions
political biography
Assigning Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani: an uneasy task to form the ninth Iraqi government
The deputy explained that a wing within the coordination framework, such as Al-Asaib, Hezbollah Brigades, the Badr Organization and State of Law, “with a review of the US presence agreement, calling for its termination, even at the level of training and advisory forces.”
The leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Mahdi Abdul Karim, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “the Kurdish forces want, during the next stage, to have a balance process within state institutions in general.”
Terms of the “Kurdistan Democratic Party”
Abdul Karim added that “the Kurdistan Democratic Party will work to implement the demands that the people of the Kurdistan region deserve, which is the issue of exporting oil from its fields, and the file of Article 140 of the Constitution (the disputed areas over administration between Baghdad and Erbil), as well as the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk, and the rights of the region.” The full budget includes salaries, etc. These are the main points that will be in the negotiating paper with Al-Sudani and the framework forces that nominated him for this position.
He revealed that “real negotiations on these conditions, and other conditions of the other political forces, will start within a few days. These conditions were presented to Al-Sudani and the general framework forces earlier.”
Refusal of conditions contrary to the Constitution and the law
In turn, a member of the Coordination Framework, Mahmoud Al-Hayani, considered that imposing a condition on the candidate of his alliance to accept granting his government confidence by the rest of the political forces is “a matter of discussion.”
He said, in a telephone conversation with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that “the framework and its candidate to form the government will not accept the imposition of any conditions that violate the constitution and the law, but will work to address some problems that previous governments were unable to solve according to the constitution and the law.”
Al-Hayani stressed that “the coordination framework will not accept open concessions, and dialogues with political forces must be within the constitution and the law. Some of the demands of the political forces are binding on the next government, such as returning the displaced and other files that were not resolved by previous governments.”
He added that “the dialogues to form the government are taking place in a very positive atmosphere, and the Prime Minister-designate started his movement two days ago, and he is continuing to meet with all political forces to reach understandings aimed at accelerating the formation of the government during the next few days.”
Al-Sudani will tentatively agree to the terms
Political analyst Maher Judeh said, in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that “with all negotiations to form a new government, some political parties impose conditions and demands, and those who are assigned to form the government always agree to them in order to prevent obstruction of the formation of his government. For this reason, the Sudanese will agree in principle On the terms of the Sunni, Kurdish, and even Shiite blocs.
Mahmoud Al-Hayani: The framework and his candidate to form the government will not accept the imposition of any conditions that violate the constitution and the law
Judeh indicated that “the problems facing the political forces are the implementation of the demands and conditions after the formation of the new government. There are no real guarantees for the application of these conditions and demands despite their approval, especially since the demands of the Sunni and Kurdish forces are the same that they raise in every negotiation process to form the new government, since many years.”
He added that ” the problems and differences between the political parties and the prime minister always appear not long after the formation of the government, and this is caused by the failure to implement the conditions and demands on the basis of which the political forces agreed to support and form the government.”
After a marathon parliament session that lasted more than 7 hours, last Thursday, in which the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Abdul Latif Rashid, was elected as the new president of the country, the candidate of the “Coordination Framework” coalition, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, was tasked with forming the ninth government since the US invasion in 2003.
The Sadrist Movement, led by Muqtada al-Sadr, attacked, on Saturday, the efforts of the “coordinating framework” to form a “tested militia coalition” government , as he put it, again refusing to participate in it, and speaking of efforts to satisfy the movement by granting him positions in that government. This is the first position of the Sadrist movement regarding the efforts to form the new government, as the movement had specified its demands to dissolve parliament and hold new early elections.
The Iraqi crisis has deviated in recent months towards the street and the use of weapons between the forces of the “coordinating framework” and the Sadrist movement, while there is currently anticipation in terms of the reaction that he is expected to take after the accelerated political developments. LINK
The US Ambassador Visits Al-Sudani And Praises His Focus In The Anti-Corruption File
Monday, 10-17-2022, AM 11:52 Tayseer Al-Assadi The US ambassador visits Al-Sudani and praises his focus in the anti-corruption file 9-1665996778
Prime Minister-designate Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani received, on Sunday evening, the US ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski, his office announced on Monday morning.
Al-Sudani’s office said in a press statement that the meeting witnessed discussions on bilateral relations and common interests between the two countries and ways to develop them, and the importance of working to enhance security and stability in Iraq and the region during the next stage.
The meeting also witnessed, according to the statement, Al-Sudani’s affirmation of Iraq’s desire to consolidate a strategic partnership relationship with the United States by strengthening work on the Strategic Framework Agreement in its various economic, educational, cultural and political aspects and issues of facing the effects of climate change, as well as security cooperation in the field of providing support and advice To empower the Iraqi security forces.
The Prime Minister-designate expressed the future government’s keenness to continue dialogue at the national level inside and outside Parliament, and to strive to resolve internal contentious issues.
Al-Sudani stressed the importance of building distinguished and balanced international relations, in the interest of the Iraqi people, and building bridges of cooperation with brotherly and friendly peoples in the regional and international environments.
For her part, the US ambassador affirmed the US government’s support for a secure, stable, prosperous and united federal and sovereign Iraq, and expressed her country’s government’s readiness to assist Iraq in combating corruption, and praised Al-Sudani’s focus in achieving progress in this file, according to the statement.
She also conveyed the US administration’s desire to continue cooperating with Iraq to defeat ISIS remnants and combat terrorism, noting that Iraq represents an essential and strategic component in the region. http://non14.net/public/151686
Observers: The Blocs Reneged On Their Promises To Hold Early Elections
Posted On2022-10-18 By Sotaliraq Baghdad/ Firas Adnan Observers say that the political blocs have reneged on their promises to go to early elections, stressing that the next government will be formed on the basis of quotas and those close to political leaders.
The researcher in political affairs, Ziad Al-Arar, said that “Iraq has returned to the usual scenario in forming the previous government on the basis of consensus and quotas.”
Al-Arar added, “Attention is still directed to the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, with the hope that something will be issued by him.”
He pointed out that “what happened in Iraq is a very strange process, in the name of democracy, which excludes the political majority and withdraws the first winner in the elections.”
Al-Arar pointed out that “other political forces continued to insist that they do not want to go to a new scene other than the scenario that the Iraqis previously rejected.”
He explained, “The Prime Minister-designate, Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani, is in an unenviable situation, and the road ahead will not be as easy as some imagine.”
Al-Arar stressed, “The political forces, with the exception of the Sadrist movement, agreed on quotas, and that agreement resulted in the election of the President of the Republic and the assignment of the Coordinating Framework candidate to form the government.”
He denied any agreement “between the political forces in charge of forming the government on the one hand and the Sadrist movement on the other hand,” explaining that “Al-Sadr will not get positions in this government because he gave up his entitlement to head it because of others’ insistence on quotas.”
And Al-Arar said, “All the political blocs participating in the quota agreement did not talk about their desire to go to early elections. Rather, the talk is currently about completing a full electoral cycle.”
He believed that “talking about a date for early elections, which was previously discussed after legal amendments were made, is now excluded.”
Al-Arar expects, “The political scene is going to get complicated with the continuous monitoring of the public and the Sadrist movement, and the preparations of the people of the October uprising to renew their activity in demonstrations.”
He stated, “The blocs supporting Al-Sudani will work to make the formation of the government successful, but the data on the ground indicate that the situation is not easy and achieving this success is very difficult.”
Al-Arar went on to say that “the way to escape for these moves is to convince the Sadrist movement and the Iraqi public to reach a political agreement that is in line with the public interest.”
He added, “Those who oppose the quota government will use their constitutional means to protest and change through popular demonstrations and media pressure.”
Al-Arar concluded that “a conflict may occur between the forces of the State Administration Alliance over the ministries, and its results will appear soon, and the Sadrists, the Tishreen forces and the silent majority are waiting for such disputes to erupt over the spoils.”
For his part, Essam Al-Faili, a professor of political science, said that “the Sudanese are facing great challenges, most notably the belief of the traditional political blocs in quotas.”
Al-Faili continued, “The quotas for many blocs are based on expediency and the nature of government formation.”
He pointed out that “the mechanism by which the Sudanese will deal in selecting ministers is to present five candidates to the ministry, the three best among them will be discussed, and one will be chosen in the last stage.”
Al-Faili expects that “the political blocs will present the names of those close to the leaders of these blocs, as they are the most loyal to them.”
Political expectations indicate that the next government will not succeed in performing its duties as long as it is formed on the basis of quotas. LINK
