Iraqi News Tuesday AM 1-18-22
Iraqi News Tuesday AM 1-18-22
TLM724 Administrator BondLady’s Corner
American Magazine: What Is Muqtada Al-Sadr's Next Step In Iraq?
Posted On 2022-01-18 By Sotaliraq The American magazine The National Interest published an article that included an analytical reading of the final results of the legislative elections in Iraq, and the fortunes of the Sadrist bloc led by Muqtada al-Sadr in forming a national majority government and the challenges it faces in doing so.
Kamran Muhammad Balani, an associate fellow at the Al Sharq Strategic Research Center, believes in his article in the magazine that al-Sadr - whose bloc led the elections - is serious about forming a national majority government, despite his realization that the support of other parties for him is not guaranteed.
The formation of such a new government would enhance the political, ideological and international priorities of al-Sadr, whose bloc and coalition voted “Progress” led by Muhammad al-Halbousi and “Azm” led by Khamis al-Khanjar, the Sunnis, along with the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Massoud Barzani and other small factions; In favor of re-electing Al-Halbousi as Speaker of the House of Representatives in the session held on the ninth of this January.
Shiite House Splits
Balani believes that the vote during that session cemented the divisions in the Shiite house, which was divided into two main fronts: one of the Sadrist movement and the other of the coordination framework that includes other Shiite forces that reject the election results on the grounds that they are fraudulent. The vote also demonstrated Sadr's ability to change the dynamics of politics in Iraq.
The framework includes the State of Law coalition led by Nuri al-Maliki, the Al-Fateh Alliance (the Popular Mobilization factions, some of which are close to Iran), led by Hadi al-Amiri, the State Forces Alliance, the Victory Alliance, the Ataa Movement, and the Virtue Party.
Balani views the election of Al-Halbousi as Speaker of the House of Representatives (Parliament) as a victory for the Sadrist bloc over the Shiite coordination framework that is "largely aligned with Iran," according to the article of the American magazine.
Al-Sadr described the election of Al-Halbousi as an important step towards forming a national majority government by allying himself with non-Shiite parties - a goal he has been striving to achieve since the elections that took place last October - or to be satisfied with playing the role of the political opposition.
The coordination framework proposed one option, which is to form a consensus government. As for Al-Sadr, a national majority government means communicating with the main winning Sunni and Kurdish forces, while excluding other political forces.
However, the formation of a national majority government led by the Sadrist bloc depends on the support of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the new Sunni coalition between the “Progress” and “Azm” alliances, and attracting the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan led by Bafel Talabani to his side will guarantee Sadr the formation of a new government.
On the other hand, al-Sadr may be able - according to the article - to form a national majority government by “splitting” the coordination framework and gaining the support of other Shiite components, such as the “state forces” and “Al-Fateh” alliances.
Al-Sadr will face 3 main challenges in his quest to establish an alliance with the Kurds and Sunnis. The first of these challenges - in the opinion of the author of the article - is that the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Sunni parties have so far rejected the idea offorming a coalition with only one Shiite bloc.
Maliki's Moves
Former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki - who leads the coordination framework - has been seeking to create new alliances in an attempt to increase the number of his bloc seats, and this led to achieving a balance in the number of seats between the two Sunni blocs, which makes it difficult for al-Halbousi to claim unilateral leadership or representation of Sunnis Iraq, in the words of the National Interest article.
In the event that al-Sadr can eventually obtain the support of the Barzani and al-Halbousi parties, the Shiite component of his coalition will not form a majority; This makes the government he seeks to establish the first government of its kind that is not dominated by Shiites since 2003. Perhaps this will cause his coalition to suffer in its quest for the support of the Iraqi Shiite community.
In his article, the researcher at the Al-Sharq Center for Strategic Research believes that the most likely possibility is that these challenges will make Muqtada al-Sadr try to communicate with Shiite forces within the coordinating framework in order to form a government of reconciliation led by the Sadrists.
The Sadrists may also consider accepting the leadership of the opposition, an option that may appeal to them somewhat, especially since he has always presented himself as a "rebel" who has been holding the governments in Baghdad accountable.
And if al-Sadr is not a party to the next government - according to the author of the article - then the coordination framework and the allied factions will extend their hegemony over Iraq, which may allow them to continue to work independently of the Iraqi security forces without being subjected to pressure from the government.
With all this in mind, it is possible that a "partial" reconciliation government will be formed. Kamran Balani does not see in his article anything new in the matter of forming a consensus government, but what is new - in his opinion - is that it may be a consensus government that works to enhance Muqtada al-Sadr's political, ideological and international priorities. LINK
With A Difference Of 1000 Dinars.. The Dollar Exchange Rates In The Local Markets
Economie| 09:41 - 18/01/2022 Baghdad - Mawazine News publishes / Mawazine News /, the price of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar, and the prices of gold and oil globally for today, Tuesday, according to the Iraqi Political Economic Center.
The selling price of the dollar 148,500 The purchase price of the dollar 147,500
The price of an ounce of gold globally 1816,75 $
The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil is $87.75
The price of a barrel of American crude oil is $85.39
https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=181931
A Slight Increase In Central Bank Sales Of Hard Currency
Economie| 02:35 - 18/01/2022 Baghdad - Mawazine News The Central Bank of Iraq's sales of hard currency, on Tuesday, recorded a slight increase from the figures recorded yesterday.
And the Central Bank’s sales in its auction for buying and selling foreign currencies rose by 2.68%, to reach 215 million and 547 thousand and 15 dollars, covered by the bank at a base exchange rate of 1460 dinars per dollar.
Most of the bank's sales went to enhance balances abroad in the form of remittances and credits, which amounted to 163 million and 367 thousand and 15 dollars, while the remaining amount of 52 million and 180 thousand dollars went in cash.
This has been 28 banks to fulfill requests to enhance balances abroad, 19 banks to meet cash requests, in addition to 199 brokerage companies. https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=181962
Mazhar Saleh: The Central Bank Pumps An Additional Trillion Dinars To Revive The Economy
Tuesday 18 January 2022 160 Baghdad: Shaima Rashid Some economic circles close to the government are optimistic that the current oil price will reach a ceiling of $125 a barrel, at a time when the Central Bank is seeking to pay an additional trillion dinars to support small projects.
The economic advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, told Al-Sabah: “The main task of the Central Bank is to fight deflation and stimulate local economic activity after the 2014 recession due to the entry of ISIS into Iraq, and then the fall in oil prices, which produced depression in the market and high unemployment rates.
Pointing out that "the Central Bank's initiative to support medium and small projects with an additional trillion dinars falls within its policy within the limits of economic recovery with other policies of the government in the field of small projects, and of course, the lending banks are the ones who evaluate the investor and determine his ability to pay, which is one of the administrative obstacles."
Saleh believes that there is a problem that will loom on the horizon because of the problems of small banks and how they deal with the issue, "there are many structural problems, and in all cases the initiative is useful and motivates economic activity, and that the beneficiaries are many."
Regarding the oil market, on which Iraq depends almost entirely on its prices, he said: “The hypothesis of rising prices to annual rates of approximately $125 a barrel requires opening the budget to employment-generating and income-generating projects, whether from the state’s investment budget or supporting the private sector’s investment and producing activities with soft loans. budget revenue.
The government’s economic advisor did not deny the importance of hedging against price risks. “A fund or account that is concerned with the stability of the budget must be established and fed annually with a percentage of the oil rent surplus, to face the risk of a drop in oil prices in unexpected future conditions on the activity of public finances and within the cycle of oil assets.” LINK
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