Early Sunday Morning Iraq News 4-17-22
Early Sunday Morning Iraq News 4-17-22
The Coordinating Framework Announces Its Position On Maintaining The Al-Kazemi Government[/Size]
Political | 09:57 - 16/04/2022 Baghdad - Mawazine News, the coordination framework spoke today, Saturday, about the possibility of maintaining the Al-Kazemi government with a cabinet reshuffle, in the event that the political blockage remains unresolved.
The leader in the framework, Ali Al-Fatlawi, said, "There are political parties working to maintain Al-Kazemi's government with a cabinet reshuffle, but this matter did not and we will not accept it at all.
Al-Fatlawi indicated that “the survival of the Al-Kazemi government with a cabinet reshuffle, means the acquisition of specific political parties over the state, and Al-Kazemi is ready to hand over any political party to the entire state, in the event that he remains in his position during the coming period, but this matter cannot be accepted by the political forces and popular bases.” https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=190378
Parliamentary Objection To Approving A Budget Sent By The Caretaker Government
Posted On2022-04-17 By Sotaliraq Baghdad / Hussein Hatem In light of the complex political scene since the October 10, 2021 elections, most indicators warn of the delay in passing the 2022 budget law.
The absence of consensus leading to the completion of the formation of the elected government as a president and a ministerial cabinet contributed to the escalation of the budget crisis, as the absence of the budget, which is supposed to be completed at most two months ago, is accompanied by a number of critical economic variables, including the rise in global prices of consumer and food items and the complexity of the living situation of income earners Limited.
There are conflicting opinions between deputies and law specialists about the mechanism for voting on the project under the caretaker government, and whether there is a possibility of approving it or not.
Member of Parliament Jassem Al-Alawi said in an interview with Al-Mada, "The current government does not have the right to send the 2022 draft budget, as it is a caretaker government, and it will have constitutional and legal consequences that hinder the passage of the law." Al-Alawi added that "the 2022 budget is for the new government that was elected during October 2021," noting that "passing the budget needs constitutional and legal consensus." He pointed out, "Passing the budget in this way and at this critical time is very difficult."
He called on the political blocs to "sit at one dialogue table and find out the deficiencies to expedite the formation of the government and pass important laws, especially the 2022 budget." With regard to the draft law on emergency support for food security and development, Al-Alawi explained that “the law contains many unclear details and distorted paragraphs,” noting that “if it is passed as it is, it will meet a constitutional and legal rejection.”
The draft law is an exceptional budget that aims to invest the financial surplus from oil imports in strengthening the vocabulary of the ration card and the agricultural sector, and increasing the Small Projects Fund in the Ministry of Labor, in addition to working to allocate funds for projects that are lagging behind because of funding. The second deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Shakhwan Abdullah, had confirmed that "the Iraqi parliament is waiting for the government to send the general federal budget law for 2022."
In turn, Representative Hussein Al-Sa'bri stated that "the internal system of the Council of Ministers grants the government to send draft laws to the House of Representatives after turning them into a daily task."
]Al-Sabri continued, "The government's transformation into a daily task is either dissolving the parliament and holding early elections, or the end of the electoral cycle, or withdrawing confidence from the prime minister and considering the ministry resigned, and it is in this capacity until the formation of the new government."
This comes at a time, a member of the Finance Committee, Mishaan al-Jubouri, revealed that the selling price of a barrel of oil was calculated at about $75 within the draft federal budget law for the year 2022, saying that it is “a logical matter in light of the rise in the markets.”
In turn, the legal expert Ali Al-Tamimi said in an interview with (Al-Mada), that “Article 62 of the constitution requires the government to submit the final accounts to Parliament before approving the budget, while Article 8 of the Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019 requires the Ministry of Finance and Planning to submit a draft The General Budget Law is submitted to the Council of Ministers at the beginning of September of each year.
Al-Tamimi added that “Article 11 of the same law required the financial management of the Council of Ministers after receiving the budget and submitting it to Parliament after discussing it in mid-October.”
Al-Tamimi pointed out that “the necessity requires legislating the budget law because it is related to people’s livelihood and livelihood. Although the government is conducting daily affairs, it does not have the right to propose a draft budget law, but the higher interest and food security, which is one of the first priorities of the government of daily affairs, requires that.”
Regarding the Financial Management Law, the legal expert explained that “it allows the government to spend 12% of the amount of the previous budget and of the available revenues, and dividing the amount of the previous budget by 12%, which is called the emergency budget as it happened in 2014, and it is a temporary state until the 2022 budget is legislated.” LINK
Expert: There Is No Constitutional Objection To The Current Government Sending The Budget Law To Parliament
Political | 01:26 - 16/04/2022 Special- Mawazine News, legal expert Haider Al-Sufi confirmed, on Saturday, that there is no legal impediment to the caretaker government sending the draft budget law for the purpose of approval in Parliament.
Al-Sufi said in an interview with "Mawazine News", "The constitution and the law do not contain any constitutional or legal text that prevents sending and approving the budget law at the time of the caretaker government, especially since the internal system of any institution is not considered higher than the constitution."
He pointed out that "Law 12/1 is not sufficient at the present time, as there are economic variables and new projects that need to be spent, in addition to the need to disburse sums of money for the ration card and others."
He added, "The government of daily affairs is concerned with financial financial disbursement, and this needs the budget law, so there is no objection to sending and approving the budget at this time." Ended 29/N33 https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=190323
Parliamentary Legal Stresses Work On Finding A Formula For Budget Legislation
Political | 08:43 - 16/04/2022 Baghdad - Mawazine News, today, Saturday, the Parliamentary Legal Committee confirmed the possibility of legislating the 2022 budget law under the caretaker government, noting that the House of Representatives is working on finding a legal formula that would allow it to be passed.
The head of the age of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Muhammad Anouz, said that "the dialogue is still continuing within the committee and the rest of the House of Representatives, in order to find a sound legal formula that allows receiving the 2022 draft budget from the caretaker government."
He added, "The House of Representatives is the supreme legislative body, and it can provide a legal and legislative cover that allows meeting the needs of citizens, especially as the wheel of the economy awaits the financial allocations necessary to run the daily lives of citizens."
And he added, "Any talk about the possibility or not being able to submit the draft budget does not stand in front of the necessary need of the Iraqi society, especially since there is a need to launch job opportunities and sectors awaiting solutions to legislate the budget."
On the legality of enacting the budget law under the caretaker government, Anouz affirmed that, “there is no violation of the law, and what was stated in the caretaker government’s interpretation of its inability to legislate does not mean that it is a law, as there is hierarchy and the constitution defines in its eighty-fifth article the process of submitting the budget from Before the Council of Ministers, the wording of the constitutional text was absolute and general and did not specify that it is possible or not possible, and what is meant by conducting daily business has to do with the budget because the lives of citizens depend on its approval.
He stressed that "it is not correct to disrupt the budget more, and now the House of Representatives is working to find a legal formula to legislate the budget, and we believe that if it is permissible to legislate the food security law, the budget may be legislated because it is also a law, and whoever wants to challenge this before the Federal Court we tell him that he has the right to According to the law, but it is not correct to further disrupt Iraq's interests in the absence of a budget." https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=190364
Al-Kazemi And Al-Samarrai Discuss Resolving Differences And Ending The “Political Stalemate” In Iraq
Posted On2022-04-16 By Sotaliraq
Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi and head of the Alliance for Resilience, MP Muthanna Al-Samarrai, discussed, on Saturday, resolving political differences and activating the language of dialogue to end the state of "political stalemate" in the country that followed the announcement of the results of the early elections last year.
This came during a visit by Al-Samarrai to Al-Kazemi, according to a statement by Al-Samarrai's office.
The two sides discussed the most prominent developments in the political scene and the possibility of finding a way out that satisfies all political forces and parties.
During the meeting, Al-Samarrai called for speeding up the resolution of political differences and activating the language of dialogue to end the state of political stalemate.
The meeting also discussed, “the political and service reality of the Iraqi governorates in general, and Salah al-Din governorate and the city of Samarra in particular, due to the historical symbolism of this city.”
The two sides stressed "the necessity of putting the country's interest first and overcoming the difficult challenges that the country is going through."
Al-Samarrai indicated that "work is continuing to overcome all obstacles facing Salah al-Din Governorate." LINK
Where Did The Sovereign Wealth Fund Project Arrive?
Posted On2022-04-17 By Sotaliraq There have been calls from parliamentarians and economists regarding the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund that embraces the oil abundance and establishes a solid base for future generations in facing challenges, especially as the world is entering an era of oil depletion. Indeed, these calls were not new in the Iraqi space.
And the advice provided by the experts, within their recommendations, to diversify the country's economy and strengthen its economic pillars, but it has been repeated now, by pushing the historical boom in oil prices, as Iraq represents one of the countries that achieved great gains from that.
Also, Iraq's official completion of the Kuwaiti compensation payments last February, triggered these demands, as Baghdad was paying about two billion dollars annually, which means adding them to the state budget. Sovereign wealth funds are investment funds that manage the state’s financial surpluses through assets outside the borders of the countries of origin, but they are not affiliated with the ministries of finance or central banks, as they differ from the foreign monetary reserve.
Although the idea of establishing this fund dates back to several years, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi announced last year the start of work on establishing the Generations Fund, as he confirmed in a statement during a cabinet session that “work is underway to activate the Future Generations Fund out of a sense of responsibility towards Our children and grandchildren.”
He added, "We want to secure Iraq's future away from dependence on an unsustainable economy, as the oil wealth will not be dominant throughout its life, and many countries have begun to search for alternative and clean energies."
Rational Move
In this context, the expert in economic affairs, Salama Sumaisem, believes that “the establishment of the sovereign fund is a logical and rational step, to preserve the value of money from oil revenues, as well as to guarantee the rights of future generations, which enhances the situation of the Iraqi economy, and makes it more powerful in the face of any future crises. She added in a statement to (Al-Mada) that "if the government needs money, it can withdraw from the fund, and this is in the form of debts."
Sumaisem pointed out that “the establishment of the fund, should not be linked to the rise in oil prices, as many countries of the world have established their funds, without the presence of that oil abundance,” pointing to the existence of “a legal impasse, related to the fact that the current government is to conduct business, but the idea must remain List".
At the top of the global sovereign fund rankings is the Norwegian State Pension Fund, which manages $1.274 trillion in assets across 21 subsidiaries. Some Arab countries also own sovereign funds with assets of hundreds of billions of dollars, such as the sovereign fund of the Kuwait Investment Authority, as well as the Qatar Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi, and another in Saudi Arabia.
For his part, the financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed that "the establishment of the sovereign fund depends on determining the price of oil within the federal budget law, and the legislation of the budget law for the year 2022 depends on the date of forming the new government."
He added in a press statement, followed by (Al-Mada), that "the provisions of Article 19 of the Financial Management Law in force in Iraq No. 6 of 2019 provided for covering the deficit and providing the surplus for use in the budgets of the following years, including the Sovereign Fund, according to the management and investment of official reserves."
Iraq has a history of attempts to establish a sovereign fund, and has established some small funds; For example, the first initiative to establish such a fund appeared in 1953 with the establishment of the Iraqi Reconstruction Council, where a committee was formed to manage it after an agreement was reached between the Iraqi government and British oil companies.
According to economic experts, the philosophy of the Sovereign Fund is based mainly on assigning its tasks to an independent body that works to attract economic competencies that have a vision and treatment that differs from the government's approach in managing development and investment operations.
[Who Will Sponsor The Project?
Despite the differentiation of the ranks of the political blocs at the present time, and the clarity of their alliances, with the presence of two camps, the first is the “Save the Homeland” alliance and the second is the “coordinating framework”, none of the two major alliances has announced, within its program for managing the next phase, the establishment of this fund, or the start of the first steps To put the features of this project, which is what puts these calls, to the test, in the absence of a political impetus, for the birth of this project.
]In the event that the political forces or the Iraqi government start in the line of the first draft of the law of this project, there are a number of sovereign wealth funds that are managed regionally and globally and that can be studied when it comes to the structure of the Iraq Fund.
But by looking at these funds and their ultimate economic goals, experts confirm that the most important reasons for establishing these funds are to help avoid economic and financial crises that may arise from internal and external factors, and thus help protect the country's economy during times of recession.
Another reason is to help rebuild damaged infrastructure or promote sustainable development through large-scale investments, which would have been difficult to finance without such funds. LINK
A Deputy Resolves The Matter Of Changing The Dollar Exchange Rate In The Next Budget - Urgent
article at link: https://baghdadtoday.news/ar/news/186550/A