Wednesday Evening Iraq Parliament News Highlights 10-26-22

Representative Ali Shaddad Reveals That The Sudanese Have Reached Advanced Understandings To Form The New Government

Posted On2022-10-26 By Sotalira   Representative “Ali Shaddad” revealed that the person in charge of forming the government, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, continues his discussions with the political blocs in order to speed up the completion of the government formation and present it to the House of Representatives to give it confidence and vote on it.

Shaddad said that the State Support Coalition is continuing to facilitate Al-Sudani’s task and help him complete his discussions on forming the government, but the differences within some components are what caused the delay in holding a session of granting confidence to Al-Sudani.

Shaddad pointed out that the differences are now confined to the Sunni house, while some minor problems over the number of ministerial seats for each party dominate the conduct of the ongoing negotiations between the two Kurdish parties, noting that Al-Sudani prefers to go to the House of Representatives with the largest number of ministerial portfolios, especially the sovereign ones. LINK

A Blessing Or A Curse?.. An Expert Explains The Possibility Of Reducing The Dollar And Its Repercuss

Article at link    https://baghdadtoday.news/ar/news/204372/A

At Al-Abadi's House... An "Important" Meeting Of The Leaders Of The Coordination Framework For Sharing The Cabinet

Posted On2022-10-25 By Sotaliraq   On Tuesday, an informed political source said that the leaders of the comprehensive coordination framework of Shiite forces, with the exception of the Sadrist movement, are now holding a meeting at the house of the leader in the framework, Haider al-Abadi, to complete the government formation.

The source said that "an important meeting is to complete the distribution of the twelve ministerial portfolios for the Shiite component, and their sharing between the blocs and the framework parties."

And he indicated that "the distribution of ministries will be in coordination and consultation with the Prime Minister-designate, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani."

Earlier today, the State of Law coalition led by Nuri al-Maliki revealed the number of his ministerial portfolios in the upcoming government headed by Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani.

The leader of the coalition, Fadel Mawat, said, "According to the electoral weight, the share of the State of Law coalition in the Sudanese government will be four ministries, but we have always been (Umm Al-Walid) and all our concern is to form the government and speed up resolving this file, as we will have only two portfolios in the new government."

And he indicated that "the State of Law coalition will have the Ministry of Higher Education, and perhaps with it the Ministry of Transport or Labor and Social Affairs, and this is subject to the dialogues that are currently taking place between the blocs and parties and the Prime Minister-designate."

While the other framework blocs got the rest of the twelve ministries,

And yesterday, Monday, the leader in the coordination framework, Fadi Al-Shammari, revealed that “the news that talks about the existence of a political agreement to pass half the government during a parliamentary session to be held this evening (yesterday), is incorrect and there is no such approach or agreement at all.”

He added, "Next Wednesday is the semi-final date for a vote of confidence in the government of Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, and government consultations for the prime minister-designate are in their final touches."   LINK

With The Imminent Formation Of A New Government In Iraq, Why Are The Attempts To Prosecute Al-Kazemi Increasing?

Al-Kazemi faces accusations of corruption and demands to prevent him from traveling until the investigations are completed (Iraqi press)

Salah Hassan Baban   10/26/2022   It seems that a new, unexpected front has opened before the outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi , with the announcement by the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, to form a committee comprising representatives of 4 parliamentary committees, namely, integrity, financial, legal and investment, in order to audit and review all decisions taken by the caretaker government for the period. That followed the October 10, 2021 elections until now.

The decision to form the committee sparked a lot of confusion about whether this was a political targeting of Al-Kazemi and his government from opposing parties as a result of his recent rapprochement with the leader of the Sadrist movement Muqtada al-Sadr , especially in light of the talk about demands to issue a travel ban on Al-Kazemi and his advisors.

horn theft

This development coincides with talk about the involvement of prominent officials in what was described as “the theft of the century” of an estimated amount of 2.5 billion dollars of the tax authority’s money, and then the arrest of the first accused in the case, Nour Zuhair Jassim at Baghdad International Airport before leaving his plane for Turkey last Monday, in light of leaks Confessions made by the accused about the involvement of two ministers, 7 undersecretaries and 11 general directors, according to the tweet of the Iraqi journalist Ahmed Mulla Talal, have not yet been proven true.

Yesterday, Tuesday, the Supreme Judicial Council issued arrest warrants and travel bans against the defendants in the same case, namely Hussein Kawa Abdul Qader, Muhammad Falah Al-Janabi, Abdul-Mahdi Tawfiq, and Nour Zuhair Al-Madhhir. Meanwhile, Representative Abdul Rahim Al-Shammari revealed in a tweet on Twitter that the judiciary had brought in Haitham Al-Jubouri, who works as an advisor to Al-Kazemi.

Irregularities

Observers recorded legal violations in the performance of the caretaker government, the most prominent of which was the conclusion of internal and international contracts, and its decision to authorize the Minister of Finance on October 20, the authority to make transfers between the appropriations of the federal general budget to secure an amount of 680 million dollars for the water directorates in the governorates, based on the provisions of Article 4 of the Federal General Budget Law for the fiscal year 2021, without having legal authority to do so.

Prior to this, Al-Kazemi issued, during the last period, orders to assign personalities close to him to sensitive positions, including assigning his office director, Judge Raed Jouhi, the tasks of the head of the intelligence service more than 3 months ago, as well as canceling the assignment of others from their positions.

Here, the legal expert, Ali Al-Tamimi, confirms that the caretaker government does not have the right to make changes in special grades, according to Articles 61 and 80 of the Constitution, and it is not entitled to conclude agreements and deals with states.

As a result, a number of deputies and politicians demanded that the Public Prosecution issue a decision to prevent Al-Kazemi and his entourage from traveling and interrogating him, which was written by Representative in Parliament Basem Khashan in a tweet on Twitter.

These rapid developments coincide with the endeavors of the post of Prime Minister,  Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, to present his new cabinet after a difficult labor that lasted about a year, following the recent legislative elections in October of last year.

With the imminent formation of a new government in Iraq, why are the attempts to prosecute Al-Kazemi Awad called for a review of all decisions issued during the Al-Kazemi government's entry into the caretaker period (Iraqi press)

For his part, the representative of the Al-Fateh Alliance, Uday Awad - the most prominent formations of the coordination framework that nominated Al-Sudani for the position of prime minister - reveals that 150 signatures have been collected to submit a request to the Presidency of Parliament in the next session in which a vote will be presented on the formation of the new government headed by Al-Sudani, to issue a decision banning Al-Kazemi’s travel And his government ministers and advisors until all investigations are completed, especially with regard to the file of the port of Faw and theft of tax and customs funds.

Awad indicates - in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net - that there are files in which the investigation needs to be deliberate and more time to reveal the facts, stressing the need to reconsider all decisions issued during the entry of Al-Kazemi's government into the caretaker period.

With the imminent formation of a new government in Iraq, why are the attempts to prosecute Al-Kazemi File-601Al-Tamimi considered that Parliament has the right to form a committee to review the decisions of the caretaker government (Al-Jazeera Net)

Judiciary opinion

From a legal point of view, the Iraqi judiciary has the right - within the Code of Criminal Procedure - to issue a decision to prevent the travel of Al-Kazemi or any other official as a procedure subsequent to the arrest warrant and followed by investigation, inspection and seizure of movable and immovable funds, which is available according to the type of crime and its classification, except that the legal expert Ali Al-Tamimi This procedure is linked exclusively to the presence of confessions or evidence against Al-Kazemi, based on Article 14 of the Constitution, which equals everyone in terms of law enforcement.

And whether Parliament has the right to form a committee to review the decisions of the caretaker government, Al-Tamimi describes this as “positive”, attributing the reason to the fact that such a government has limited powers and is not entitled to hire or conclude agreements, and in the event of any violation, Parliament has the right to refer it to the judiciary in the event No irregularities detected.

With the imminent formation of a new government in Iraq, why are the attempts to prosecute Al-Kazemi 009-1Al-Sarji considered that the attempt to prevent Al-Kazemi from traveling and to sue him constituted targeting by the coordination framework (Al-Jazeera Net)

Tax proximity to the chest

On the other hand, political analyst Ahmed Al-Saraji sees the attempt of some parties close to the coordination framework to prevent Al-Kazemi from traveling and prosecute him as a kind of orientation to the framework, and is represented by limiting the issue of failure and corruption to Al-Kazemi’s government without addressing his predecessors of prime ministers, whether it was Adel Abdul-Mahdi, Haider Al-Abadi or Nouri al-Maliki.

Al-Sarji acknowledges that Al-Kazemi pays the tax of his rapprochement with the Sadrist movement during the crisis that erupted between the current and the framework, and Al-Kazemi’s attempt to obtain a second term, especially since the leader of the movement, Muqtada Al-Sadr, demanded in one of his tweets that Al-Kazemi remain in his position to supervise the proposed early elections, noting that Al-Kazemi remained alone. And this fate is isolated by the framework after the withdrawal of Al-Sadr.

And about the expected scenarios, the political analyst expects that something like an “agreement” will take place that will take Al-Kazemi out of this crisis without any accountability or even opening files against him “because of his connection with the American embassy, ​​and this makes him a red line that prevents approaching him.”

With the imminent formation of a new government in Iraq, why are the attempts to prosecute Al-Kazemi 002Mushaa Al-Tamimi considered that the formation of a parliamentary committee to review Al-Kazemi's decisions was a violation of the judiciary (Al-Jazeera Net)

Warning to the Sudanese government

On the other hand, political analyst Mushais Al-Tamimi believes that if Al-Kazemi is exposed to any attempt to exclude or abuse and prevent travel, this will send negative messages about the new government, given that the Prime Minister-designate announced that he is against any revenge attempts, ruling out that the judiciary will issue any decision to prevent Traveling against Al-Kazemi.

And whether these attempts were in retaliation against Al-Kazemi, who is close to Al-Sadr, Al-Tamimi added, "The leader of the Sadrist movement has nothing to do with this, and the framework has been at odds with Al-Kazemi since the beginning of his tenure as prime minister."

Regarding the formation of a parliamentary committee to review Al-Kazemi’s decisions, Al-Tamimi says that this is a violation of the judiciary, commenting, “The government, according to the interpretation of the Federal Court, is monitored by the Federal and Administrative Courts, given that the current session of Parliament did not give it confidence, and it is monitored by the judiciary since the end of the last session of Parliament.” "   LINK

Al-Hakim: The Kurds Participate In The Sudanese Government Strongly, And Al-Sadr Is An Essential Part Of The Political System

Posted On2022-10-26 By Sotaliraq   Former Iraqi Foreign Minister Muhammad Ali al-Hakim confirmed that the Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union are strongly participating in the next Iraqi government, noting that the Sadrist movement is an essential part of the country's political system.

Muhammad Ali al-Hakim said in a special statement: "The Democratic Party and the National Union have capable people," stressing that they "appoint competent personalities to important positions."

He added that "the Sadrist movement's participation in the next government is very important," calling on "the Sudanese to expedite the involvement of al-Sadr in the new government."

Al-Hakim said that "the Sadrist movement is an essential part of the Iraqi political system."

The former minister expressed his belief that "the Prime Minister in charge of forming the next government, Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani, will choose competent people to fill the ministerial portfolios."

He continued, "According to the constitution, Iraq does not pose a threat to any country," calling on "neighboring countries to act responsibly when doing anything related to Iraq."

Muhammad Ali al-Hakim held the position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2018 to 2020 in the government of Adel Abdul-Mahdi, which resigned after the outbreak of the October demonstrations, and their demands focused on holding early elections. LINK

Attention is turning to the Iraqi parliament to determine the date for granting confidence to the Sudanese government  Arabic reports  Baghdad   fair deputies   October 26 2022   LINK