Late Monday Morning Iraq News Highlights 5-9-22

Member Of The Coordination Framework: We Will Not Visit The Parties Until They Express Their Readiness For Dialogue

Posted On2022-05-09  By Sotaliraq   The deputy in the Iraqi parliament and a member of the coordination framework, Ahmed Al-Rudaini, stated that the initiative of the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada Al-Sadr, to form a government with the participation of independent representatives, stopped the initiative of the independents, the coordination framework, stressing that the framework will not visit other parties for dialogue on the initiative of the coordination framework until those other parties express its willingness to do so.

Al-Rudaini said today, Monday (May 9, 2022), that "Muqtada al-Sadr's initiative has suspended the coordination framework initiative to get out of the political blockage," expecting a real political movement after the end of the 15-day period set by al-Sadr for independent deputies.

The member of the Iraqi parliament stated that "our initiative was realistic, but the other initiatives came to determine the limitation of the other parties."

On May 4, 2022, the coordinating framework put forward an initiative consisting of 18 points, in order to address the current political situation in Iraq, during which it called on all parties to sit at the dialogue table and discuss solutions and remedies without preconditions or restrictions, putting everyone in the interest of the homeland and the citizen before his eyes. As well as the Kurdish parties reached an understanding and agreement on the identification of one candidate for the post of the Presidency of the Republic. And the selection of the candidate to head the new Iraqi government from the largest component (the Shiite component).

On the same day, the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, put forward a new initiative, in which he called on independent representatives to join the tripartite alliance and form the Iraqi government, within 15 days.

Ahmed Al-Rudaini confirmed that the coordinating framework is ready for dialogue, and is waiting for the political parties to express their willingness for the framework to visit it, saying: “The other parties must be ready for dialogue about our initiative, then a delegation from the coordinating framework will visit it, if we visit the parties without their preparation, it will not work That would be beneficial,” explaining that “it is not a condition that our initiative be fully approved, and its points can be agreed upon.”

After about seven months of early parliamentary elections in Iraq, a new president has not been elected for the country, and a government has not been formed yet, due to the political parties' disagreement over the personalities nominated for the post of Iraq's presidency, and the form of the next Iraqi government.

The leaders of the coordination framework support the formation of a consensus government similar to the governments that were formed in previous years, while the Sadrist movement, which won the largest number of parliamentary seats in the Iraqi parliament, insists on forming a national majority government.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party also disagrees with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan over a unified candidate for the presidency of the Republic of Iraq, which constitutes another obstacle to getting out of the current political impasse in the country.

A member of the coordinating framework indicated that “the disagreement between the coordinating framework and the Sadrist movement is what hinders the political process” in Iraq.

Disclaimer: All published articles represent the opinion of its authors only     LINK

Parliament is preparing to resume its activities: 120 days of its life without law

Posted On2022-05-09  By Sotaliraq  Baghdad/ Firas Adnan  The House of Representatives is preparing to resume its activity after the end of the Eid holiday, and despite the passage of four months since the constitutional oath was taken for the current session, it has not witnessed the passage of any law until the present time, and the blocs are still preoccupied with the government crisis on the one hand and the formation of committees on the other hand.

A statement issued by the House of Representatives, received by Al-Mada, stated that “the Speaker of Parliament, Muhammad Al-Halbousi, held a meeting with his first deputy, Hakim Al-Zamili, and his second deputy, Shakhwan Abdullah; To discuss the most important topics related to the work and holding of the council’s sessions during the coming period.”

The statement continued, "The meeting ended with extending the legislative term for one month; Based on the provisions of Article 58/Second of the Constitution, in order to complete a number of legislation, tasks and constitutional entitlements.

He pointed out that it was agreed to hold sessions for the council this week on Wednesday and Thursday, May 11-12.

The statement stated, "The agenda will include the first reading of the law criminalizing normalization with the Zionist entity, and the vote on the emergency support law for food security and development, as well as the completion of the formation of parliamentary committees."

Representative Ahmed Al-Rubaie said, "The last month coincided with Ramadan, and the House of Representatives witnessed meetings within the committees and hosting a number of government officials and talking with them about some important issues that concern the street, especially at the economic level and the electricity and oil sector."

Al-Rubaie continued, "Contacts have taken place with some members of Parliament in order to resume parliament sessions, after we finished days before the Eid holiday."

He pointed out that "the upcoming sessions will witness the passage of mission laws and the discussion of the issue of parliamentary committees and some other issues related to oversight of the government's performance."

And al-Rubaie, that «members of parliament are waiting at the same time for the political blocs to reach an agreement on the government and achieve the numerical majority required to hold the presidential election session mandated by the Federal Supreme Court, in the presence of at least 220 deputies».

He stated, "The atmosphere of the dialogues is still not clear, and therefore the closest to us is to hold regular sessions to discuss important laws because we are against disrupting the legislative role of Parliament."

Al-Rubaie concluded, “It is important for the parliament to continue its work in the hope that the efforts to form the government will bear fruit and we will move towards its formation and then pass the federal budget law.”

For his part, Representative Uday Awad spoke about the importance of “the House of Representatives carrying out its duties, because it has many responsibilities, especially in terms of passing suspended laws after discussing them, as well as activating the oversight work on the government.”

Awad stated, "The Iraqi street is waiting for the current parliamentary session to complete the suspended files, especially the enactment of laws stipulated in the constitution, as it did not witness a political agreement during the past period."

He agrees with Al-Rubaie, that «the first of those laws that should be worked on is the draft budget law, because we are facing an unhealthy situation in that Iraq has reached the fifth month and it is without a budget».

He pointed out that "the lack of agreement on forming a government should not be a justification for disrupting parliament, and we are looking forward to resuming sessions in the coming days in order to be present for any political agreement that might happen."

Awad went on to say that "the tasks of Parliament do not depend on the legislative aspect only, but that there are tasks that are no less important as stipulated in the constitution, which is the oversight of government performance by following up on the work of ministries and hospitality and monitoring violations in executive performance."

In addition, Representative Arshad Al-Salihi finds that «there are some political blocs that do not have a clear vision on important laws, and today they impede the work of the House of Representatives and they also impede the enactment of legislation that pertains to Iraqis».

Al-Salihi stated, "There are many important suspended laws that we were waiting to pass despite the passage of more than 120 days since the start of Parliament's work, including the budget, enforced disappearance, prevention of discrimination, electronic crimes, domestic violence and other projects related to basic services for citizens."

]He pointed out, "The blocs obstructing the parliament's work are the majority and are able to thwart the holding of any session, even if its purpose is not to complete the election of presidencies, but to enact laws that Iraqis need."

Al-Salihi hopes that “the quorum will be achieved in the sessions that have been scheduled, and accordingly the legislative authority will exercise its functions normally, whether at the legislative or oversight levels.”

Members of Parliament for the current session took the constitutional oath on the ninth of last January, and elected Muhammad Al-Halbousi as Speaker of the Council, Hakim Al-Zamili as First Deputy and Shakhwan Abdullah as Second Deputy, and then chose the members of the committees without resolving their chairs until the present time. LINK

Despite The Difficulty Of The "40 Deputies Barrier", Al-Sadr's Initiative Is A "Way Out For The Iraqi Political Blockage".

Posted On2022-05-09  By Sotaliraq   Despite the difficulty of the "40 deputies barrier", Al-Sadr's initiative is a "way out for the Iraq 000_9LR4A8.jpg?itok=DFQ0S42o&_ga=2.62467948.196189530.1652054964-609194516

The leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, and a number of his deputies

At the end of the month of Ramadan, the deadline for the leader of the Iraqi Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, expired for his political rivals (the Shiite framework) to form a parliamentary majority that would qualify them to nominate a government in the country, about seven months after the “early” parliamentary elections were held in the country.

With the end of the deadline, the leader of the current presented a new initiative represented in giving the “independent deputies” the opportunity to form a coalition that stipulated that it contain at least 40 deputies, and said that he would give them the opportunity to nominate a government, which he pledged to vote on, and not to participate in it as ministers.

Days after Al-Sadr announced the new initiative, the political debate in Iraq escalated over the possibility of achieving the condition of 40 deputies, especially as there are doubts about the possibility of independents achieving this, given that there are different views among the independents about what Al-Sadr proposes.

And the Iraqi political analyst, Muhammad Al-Maamouri, says that "Al-Sadr's initiative that he put forward constitutes a possible way out of the current political impasse."

Al-Maamouri added to Al-Hurra website that “the ball is now in the court of the independents, after the framework has proven its inability to form a majority or even open dialogues,” stressing that “the threshold of forty seats stipulated by Al-Sadr will force the independents to be one bloc, and will open more dialogues. between them, and this in itself is a positive thing.”

Al-Maamouri concludes by saying that "the independents must now prove their ability to form a government, and to overcome any differences that may be between them."

But this task may not be so easy, especially since the independents are divided into small parliamentary blocs, most of which emerged as a result of the October demonstrations that toppled the government of Adel Abdul-Mahdi in 2019.

And the Iraqi political analyst, Muhammad Nana`, says that "it is difficult at this moment to predict the nature of the independents' responses collectively."

The independents in the Iraqi parliament are divided into three groups according to affiliation, according to Nanaa, who says that part of the independents “sympathize with the Shiite coordination framework, and if they entered the elections independently, and another part are independents who belong to small blocs such as Emtada and the New Generation may be closer to the coalition.” Al-Sadr-Kurdish (Saving a Homeland) from others, and a third part is far from the two big blocs.”

According to Nana'a, the three groups of Iraqi independents "are far from reaching 40 seats, if they do not ally themselves with each other."

The Sadrist bloc won 73 seats in the Iraqi parliament

The largest coalition of independents “For the People” is formed from the Emtada and the New Generation blocs, and it has 18 deputies, while Nanaa tells Al-Hurra that there are 17 “independents” who are close to the coordination framework.

The local news agency, Nass News  , quoted an official spokesman for the "New Generation" coalition as saying that "Al-Sadr's initiative is not directed at the bloc because it refused to participate in the government from the beginning."

This may mean that "the barrier of 40 deputies is not possible," according to observers.

Nanaa adds to Al-Hurra that "Al-Sadr's initiative is not serious, because he cannot actually hand them over the prime ministership, nor can he hand them over positions of influence he has obtained."

Nana’ asserts that “the extent to which al-Sadr or the framework is able to win over the independents is a complex matter, because the current trends of the independents cannot change easily, even though the Sadr alliance is closer to winning the independents.”

Iraqi political analyst, Al-Fadl Ahmed, who is close to a number of Iraqi parliamentary independent blocs, says that "the real question is not about the independents' ability to gather 40 deputies, but rather is it in their interest to enter into an alliance with Al-Sadr?"

Al-Fadl added to Al-Hurra website that “the experience of the October and independents is new and lacks experience in the field of state administration, as well as a sober political organization, so it is expected that this shortage within the “House of Independents” will lead to the failure of the supposed independent government.”

Al-Fadl says, "It is logical to place the responsibility on the shoulders of the parties that have ruled the country for the past 19 years, and not the experience of the independents and the Octoberists, who are meant to bear the people's anger on behalf of the forces that managed the scene after 2003."

He added that "the terms of the relationship between al-Sadr and the independents are not equal, as he will have more influence over them than their influence over him through his bloc, and this is something that he will likely dictate what he wants from them without taking responsibility for the failure of their supposed government."

About 50 Iraqi deputies won as independents or within new political blocs, most notably the New Generation and Extension, and the Kanon Sunrise Alliance (6 deputies). LINK

Posted On2022-05-09  By Sotaliraq   Assad: The relationship between Syria and Iran has prevented the Zionist entity from extending its control over the region 

Assad: The relationship between Syria and Iran has prevented the Zionist entity from extending its c 6277bf124236041ecf2b9cf6

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei stressed the depth of strategic relations and the strength of the link between the two countries.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said during his meeting with the Iranian guide in Tehran that the strategic relations between Iran and Syria prevented the Zionist entity from extending its control over the region.

President al-Assad added: "Iran's steadfastness and its steadfast stances over the past four decades towards regional issues, especially the Palestinian issue, showed all the peoples of the region that the path that Iran is taking is the right and principled path."

Al-Assad continued, "It is possible to reconstruct what was left of the war, but if the foundations and principles are destroyed, it cannot be reconstructed... and the steadfastness of the Iranian people on the foundations and principles of Imam Khomeini, which continued with your efforts, paved the way for great victories for the Iranian people and the peoples of the region, especially the Palestinian people."

Al-Assad stressed: “Some believe that Iran’s support for the resistance front is support with weapons, while the most important assistance provided by the Islamic Republic is to spread the spirit of resistance and its continuation.”

For his part, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that Syria has won an international war, and Syria's credibility today is much greater than it was in the past.

The guide said: “Some leaders of the countries neighboring Iran and some of Syria’s neighbors sit with the leaders of the Zionist entity and drink coffee together, but the peoples of these countries fill the streets with crowds and anti-Zionist slogans on Quds Day, and this is the reality of the region today.”

He added, "One of the most important factors for Syria's victory is your high morale, and God willing, with this morale, you will be able to rebuild the country from the ruins of war. You have great things and tasks ahead of you."

The guide pointed out that the relationship and the link between Iran and Syria is vital for both countries and we should not allow it to be weakened, but rather it should be strengthened as much as possible.

Referring to the friendship and love initiatives of some countries that were on the front line against Syria during the previous years, the Iranian guide added: The features of the future must be clarified through past experiences.

Source: RT LINK

The meeting of “independent” representatives ends without an agreement

Posted On2022-05-09  By Sotaliraq     A well-informed political source said, on Monday, that the independent representatives in the Iraqi parliament had not reached an agreement defining their destination, towards two political initiatives put forward by the Triple Alliance, and the coordinating framework leads to the formation of the faltering government.

The source said that a meeting brought together 46 deputies with an independent title at the house of Representative Haider Al-Shamkhi, to discuss the latest initiatives and political developments in the country.

He added that the meeting did not come up with a final agreement specifying their destination, with an emphasis on holding a new meeting that may be decisive during the next two days.

The comprehensive coordinating framework of Shiite forces, and the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, had each put forward an initiative to resolve the blockage, as the framework initiative consisted of nine points, and was accompanied by nine commitments, which included a pivotal role for the independents in naming the prime minister, provided that it is within the framework of the Shiite component, followed by Al-Sadr’s initiative to invite independent representatives to form an independent bloc to form the government away from the coordination framework, after a period of forty days granted to the framework in order to form the government in isolation from his current.

With the end of the deadline comes a new failure in the attempts of the framework or the movement to find an understanding with the other forces in order to set a new date for holding a parliament session, dedicated to electing a new president of the republic, and completing the constitutional entitlements represented by forming a new government.   LINK

Barzani Seeks To Address The Political Blockage With A New Initiative

Rikani: Barzani is communicating with the political parties in preparation for a new initiative

Barzani seeks to address the political blockage with a new initiative 3-1024x579

Today, Monday, a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Bankin Rekani, revealed the intention of the party leader, Massoud Barzani, to put forward an initiative to address the blockage in the political process.

Rikani stressed that Barzani is in contact with the parties participating in the political process with the aim of exchanging views with them in preparation for presenting his initiative, which he is now studying meticulously. Including the re-election.   LINK

The meeting of independent representatives ends with the formation of committees to study political initiatives

Shafaq News/ An informed political source revealed, on Monday, that the meeting of the independent representatives concluded with the formation of committees to study the initiatives of the coordination framework and the Sadrist bloc aimed at getting out of the political blockage, pointing to the holding of another important meeting in the coming hours.

The source told Shafak News Agency, "42 independent deputies were present and supportive of the meeting that was held last night, Saturday, during which the Sadrist bloc's initiatives and the coordination framework were discussed, and they agreed that these initiatives should be presented within the House of Representatives and officially through a written paper submitted to the representatives of the people." It is not posted on social media or on social media.

"During the meeting, committees were formed to study the initiatives put forward by the political forces to resolve the crisis and form the next government," he added.

The source pointed out that "the independent deputies will hold an important meeting this evening to discuss the role and work of the committees that were formed and their vision for the political initiatives that were put forward by the Sadrist bloc and the coordination framework and work to find a solution to the water and food shortage crisis and the economic crisis in the country."

In the early hours of Monday, an informed political source told Shafak News Agency that a meeting brought together 46 deputies with an independent title at the house of Representative Haider Al-Shamkhi, to discuss the recent initiatives and political developments in the country.

He added that the meeting did not come up with a final agreement specifying their destination, with an emphasis on holding a new meeting that may be decisive during the next two days.

The comprehensive coordinating framework of Shiite forces, as well as the leader of the Sadrist movement Muqtada al-Sadr, had each put forward an initiative to resolve the blockage. The framework initiative consisted of nine points, and was accompanied by nine commitments, which included a pivotal role for the independents in naming the prime minister, provided that it is within the framework of the Shiite component. This was followed by an initiative by al-Sadr, calling on independent representatives to form an independent bloc to form the government away from the coordination framework, after a forty-day deadline granted to the framework in order to form a government independent of his current.

With the end of the deadline comes a new failure in the attempts of the framework or the movement to find an understanding with the other forces in order to set a new date for holding a parliament session, dedicated to electing a new president of the republic, and completing the constitutional entitlements represented by forming a new government.   LINK

A New Postponement In Deciding The Validity Of The Parliamentary Membership Of Mishaan Al-Jubouri

Shafaq News/ The Federal Supreme Court decided, on Monday, to postpone the issuance of the ruling, claiming the validity of Mishaan al-Jubouri's membership in the Iraqi Parliament for the fifth session.

A source told Shafak News Agency, "The court postponed the issuance of the ruling until Monday, May 16th."

The court held its session based on a lawsuit filed by politician Qutaiba al-Jubouri to challenge Mishaan al-Jubouri's parliamentary membership.

This is the second adjournment of the case after the first, which was issued on April 20.

According to a legal source, the basis of the case was based on the challenge to the validity of the academic certificate of Mishaan al-Jubouri.   LINK