Iraq..  From No State To No Government

Ayad  Iyad Amber  June 12 2022

“We cannot imagine that the usurpation of the state by political mafias and non-state forces would leave us a specific area without becoming infected with chaos and devastation.” Archive photo.

In the previous article, I focused on the political class's hatred of the state, and completing the topic requires tracing the map of chaos and devastation established by the system of governance and the forces of power and influence. The devastation in Iraq is no longer confined to a specific area of ​​politics, economy and culture, but has become a structural system that governs all areas of the political system, the state and society!

We cannot imagine that the usurpation of the state by political mafias and non-state forces would leave us a specific area without becoming infected with chaos and devastation. Whoever does not believe in the state strives to sabotage all its features in the details of daily life.

And the ruling political class has not only failed to “achieve social acceptability” and “legitimize its political work with the achievement” that it presents to the citizen and gropees in the public sphere, but it even failed to exploit state resources and the power of arms to compel society to accept it.

Day by day, the gap between her and the public increases. The fact, which she does not want to admit, is that clients who have utilitarian interests with her have become less attached to them, and perhaps the map of electoral weights in the October elections is the best proof of that.

Perhaps the work to abolish the state and its details is understandable, given that the intellectual and cultural estrangement between the concept of the state and the power parties and leaders is clear and explicit, both at the level of political discourse or political stances.

Whoever justifies the legitimacy of uncontrolled weapons under different headings, and whoever demands to guarantee the right of the component while he is in control of the political decision, certainly does not know the meaning of the state as the supreme institution that expresses the entity of the nation that transcends social contradictions and that fuses and diversifies groups and performs the function of protecting society and achieving its aspirations.

But the topic that needs to be rearranged in our priorities to read the political crisis in Iraq is the government, as it holds wealth and power. Everything revolves in its orbit and starts from it. However, it has become without colour, taste and smell, and equals its existence and non-existence! Instead of talking about plans and strategies and drawing and implementing public policies, her speech has become a repetition of the discourse of grumbling and complaining about which the citizen speaks!

In order to realize the tragedy of the Iraqis, imagine that the citizen lives under the shadow of the government of its prime minister, declaring to the media that “his job has become a follow-up of transactions”!

And the Minister of the Interior, who vowed in the first days of his assumption of the position to cut off the hand of every corrupt person who tampered with the security of the citizen, declares that he is "idly handed" and does not have the authority to move a security barrier or a single combat regiment without resorting to the leaders of Baghdad operations and taking the approval of its commander!

And the Minister of Education, who is concerned with conveying the greetings and peace of clan elders to his prime minister, failed to keep the ministerial exam questions secret!

Imagine that you live in a “state” whose government does not care about incidents and events that if they occurred in a country that respects its citizens, it would immediately submit its resignation, or at least the minister responsible for the incident would submit his resignation.

Therefore, the government did not stop much in front of the World Bank report, which revealed that nearly 90% of Iraqi students do not understand what they read, and that the turmoil of the situation led to a dysfunctional educational system.

And the Minister of Finance, who cracked our heads with the government's white paper for economic reform, so far does not want to admit that neither his white, yellow, nor red paper would have succeeded in securing employee salaries had it not been for the high oil prices! And his paper failed to stop the waste and corruption in the currency auction, and to address the problem of unemployment.

And in every government, the farce of ministries that are run without a minister is repeated, after the resignation of their ministers! As if the issue of the minister is a marginal issue or a redundant link in the management of the institution. This may be the fact that the past years have proven.

The inflation in the number of ministries is not a need imposed by the policy of the state administration, but rather a policy to satisfy parties and personalities after the formation of the government. Perhaps a ministry will be created to compliment political figures close to the prime minister! In Iraq, we are looking for a position for the politician, and it is not important whether the state needs this position, nor even his competence and experience in administration.

Despite all reports and indicators that prove the involvement of previous governments in corruption, waste of public money and mismanagement, not to mention their inability to protect Iraqi lives, accountability is still completely absent. Rather, it has become a political norm upon which governments agree to commit themselves not to prosecuting the corrupt and those implicated in the blood of innocents.

Because of the failure of governments, the demands of the Iraqi citizen have been diminished, and he is no longer demanding an economic miracle or development projects, but is now limited to preserving their lives from kidnapping and assassination gangs, and dreams of properly paved roads, and health institutions that give him hope of life instead of wanting to die, and instead of lying in hospitals. And schools for education, not ruined buildings, whose function has shifted from preparing educated generations to ignoring society and developing its backwardness.

Our dilemma with failed governments will remain, and a major reason for staying within the cycle of state failure, as long as the political class insists on choosing governments led by decorative figures who have neither vision nor courage in making decisions in critical times and crises.

As long as the government obtains its legitimacy from the acceptance and approval of political leaders, it will remain captive to its political mood, and seek to meet its demands, as it is a guarantor of its survival in the government. Therefore, this system is not expected to produce a strong government that aims to respond to the demands of the public and advance its main functions, even if the power-sharing equation between the political parties changes.

However, the hope remains contingent on the overthrow of the ruling system by a government that works to achieve integration with its public, not ignore it. Hence, it may turn against the illusory legitimacy granted by the leaders of political parties, and work to establish a legitimacy that links them with the public through the provision of economic and service achievements. LINK

https://www.alhurra.com/different-angle/2022/06/12/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A9