More Iraq Parliament News Highlights 5-26-22

The Federal Government Threatens To Take Measures Towards The Region

Posted On2022-05-26 By Sotaliraq   Baghdad: Omar Abdul Latif  The First Deputy Chairman of the Oil and Gas Committee in the House of Representatives, Ali Al-Machkoor, revealed the measures that the federal government will take towards the Kurdistan region if it does not comply with the decision of the Federal Supreme Court regarding the delivery of oil to the center.

Al-Maskoor said in an interview: "The Federal Court issued its binding and irrefutable decision that the (oil and gas law) issued by the region was unconstitutional, and obligated it to hand over its produced oil to the federal government."

He added that "the Kurdish side expressed its reservations about this decision and confirmed that it would exercise its (constitutional rights) in this regard," noting that "there are measures that will be taken by the federal government if the region continues to violate the decision of the Federal Court and does not come to the right path," and indicated that "the Committee of Oil, gas and natural resources in the House of Representatives will present proposals and solutions for the possibility of resolving the crisis between the federal government and the Kurdistan Region in the oil file.”

Regarding the oil companies operating in the region, Al-Maskoor stressed that “the origin of the work of these companies is (wrong) in addition to the presence of leniency on the part of the regional government with them, which motivated them to go further in this sector, in addition to that they are looking for profit in their projects and this is their first goal. And the last.”   LINK

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The Iraqi Parliament Passes A Law Banning Dealing With Israel, And Al-Sadr Calls For Street Celebrations

Shafaq News/ The Iraqi parliament approved today, Thursday, a proposal for a law criminalizing "normalization with the Zionist entity" with the unanimous consent of the attendees.

Earlier in the day, Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi opened the parliament session after the quorum was completed, with the attendance of 275 deputies.

Shafak News Agency correspondent said that as soon as the session convened, parliament began voting on the articles of the proposed law.

Following the vote, the First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hakim Al-Zamili, issued a statement saying, “This law, which was unanimously voted by the voters, represents a true reflection of the will of the people, a brave national decision, and a position that is the first of its kind in the world in terms of criminalizing the relationship with the Zionist entity,” calling "Arab and Islamic parliaments to pass similar legislation that meets the aspirations of their people."

In turn, the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, called on the Iraqi people to take to the streets in a tweet to celebrate the vote on the proposed law, which he described as a "great achievement."

Last Thursday (May 19), the Iraqi parliament completed a report and discussion of a proposed law banning normalization and establishing relations with Israel, which aims to prevent the establishment of any kind of relations with it.

The "Save a Homeland" bloc, the largest coalition in the Iraqi parliament, had earlier submitted a draft law to the parliament's presidency that stipulates "criminalizing normalization with Israel."

It is noteworthy that Iraq does not establish any relations with "Israel", and the majority of Iraqi political forces reject normalization with it.   LINK

In The Presence Of Nechirvan Barzani.. The Start Of The Closed Meeting Of Plasschaert With The Kurdish Parties

Shafaq News/ A closed meeting of the Kurdish parties started on Thursday, in the presence of the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Jenin Plasshart.

Earlier, UNAMI called the Kurdish parties to hold a meeting to discuss the upcoming parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan Region.

The meeting, which is now being held at the United Nations office in Erbil, the capital of the region, was attended by a delegation of the Kurdistan Democratic Party headed by Fadel Mirani, Secretary of the Political Bureau of the party, and a delegation of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan headed by Bafel Talabani.

Omar Syed Ali, the general coordinator of the Change Movement, Salah al-Din Babiker, who headed the delegation of the Kurdistan Islamic Union, Ali Babir, who headed the Kurdistan Justice delegation, and Badria Ibrahim, who headed the delegation of the New Generation Movement, also attended.

According to the information obtained by Shafak News Agency; Nechirvan Barzani, head of the region, arrived at the meeting shortly after his return from Zakho and his participation in the graduation ceremonies of the officers' course there.   LINK

Al-Maliki And His Allies Acknowledge The Failure Of The Al-Sadr Containment Strategy And Agree To End It

Posted On2022-05-26 By Sotaliraq    Translation: Hamed Ahmed   A report stated that the armed factions are avoiding a conflict between the Shiite component because of the dispute over the next government, but indicated their readiness to deal with any escalation issued by the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr.

A report by MEE, translated by Al-Mada, stated that "relations between the leader of the Sadrist movement Muqtada al-Sadr and members of the coordination framework have deteriorated more than they were in the past."

The report added, "This came after months of frustration and deadlocks, to the extent that Iraqi Shiite leaders expect armed clashes to occur, even over identity."

He pointed out, "Al-Sadr, after his exit from the elections as the winner of the highest votes, faces problems and frustrations that prevent him and his allies from forming a government."

The report stated, "Other Shiite parties have frozen the formation of a government at a time when al-Sadr allied himself with Sunni and Kurdish parties."

And he indicated, "The ruling of the Federal Supreme Court regarding the quorum required for the process of electing the president of the republic, prevented al-Sadr from being able to choose a president and a prime minister; Because his rivals boycotted parliament sessions.”

The report noted, "Al-Sadr decided to keep the current government led by Mustafa Al-Kazemi, but the Federal Court returned again to rule against him by saying that Al-Kazemi's cabin is limited to the role of conducting business only, and it cannot take the important decisions required to run the country's affairs."

And he believed, "This decision unleashed anger from Al-Sadr that his competitors have not witnessed since the start of the negotiations to form the government, as he publicly denounced the judiciary, accusing him of going along with the disgraceful acts of the blocking third in terms of what he knows or does not know."

The report added, "Al-Sadr promised that he would not abandon his project to form a national majority government and crossed the two-decade stage by relying on a consensus government that harmed the country."

He stressed, "Al-Sadr's speech, which lasted for three minutes, surprised many Iraqis and angered his competitors."

He added, "The official of Saraya al-Salam, Abu Mustafa al-Hamidawi, was quick to dispel any confusion in the meanings of al-Sadr's speech, and wrote in a tweet to him, saying: We are ready, so wait for us."

He pointed out that "a convoy of hundreds of Saraya al-Salam fighters roamed the streets of Sadr City, stressing the readiness to carry out any orders from al-Sadr."

The report quotes Shiite leaders as saying that "the leaders of the armed factions who are following developments have told their followers to maintain as much restraint as possible."

He continues, "The prime minister can be elected by the largest parliamentary bloc only, according to the Iraqi constitution, but according to the system of political partnership in governance and power that the Iraqi forces have adopted since 2003, which is that the prime minister should be from the Shiite component's share."

And the report stated, “The Shiite forces began to stress that regardless of the fact that the largest parliamentary bloc has the right to install the prime minister, it must be the largest Shiite bloc, in reference to the involvement of the most prominent framework forces, which is the coalition of state law led by al-Maliki, in order to undermine Al-Sadr’s supremacy in Parliament.”

He added, "Al-Sadr tried to build a larger Shiite bloc by courting independents and smaller Shiite parties, even by granting them the position of prime minister, provided that they form a bloc of 40 deputies and join his alliance, but he did not succeed in that."

The report continues, "The members of the coordination framework decided, during the meeting that gathered their leaders at Haider al-Abadi's house in Baghdad on May 16, to adopt a new strategy."

According to the report, one of the leaders in the coordination framework says that "the strategy to contain al-Sadr must end because it pushes him to take tough positions."

The leader added, "Al-Sadr believes that we are afraid of confronting him, and that he can be alone with whatever he and his group want. He is completely wrong.”

The leader indicated, “The coordinating framework was very patient with him, but he interpreted our patience as fear or weakness. This stage is over, and he will see a different face from us in the coming days.”

The report confirmed, "Two well-informed people revealed an agreement at a meeting of the coordination framework that Al-Sadr will be presented with three options."

The report pointed out that "the first option is to ally with the coordination framework to form a consensual partnership in power that will last for only one year, and if this option fails, the majority government that al-Sadr wants will be formed."

He noted, "The second option is to dissolve parliament and call for new elections, and the third option will be to keep the situation as it is."

The leader in the coordinating framework reiterates, “Any attempts by al-Sadr or his allies to make any governmental or legislative changes that alter the current balance of power, will be confronted by all available means.”

For his part, a prominent leader in one of the factions stated, according to the report, that “our biggest fear throughout all this time is the possibility of a Shiite-Shiite conflict, and that is why we are turning a blind eye to the threats being made against us.”

The armed leader added, "The factions do not fear any confrontation, and if he speaks the language of threat, we will speak the same language, and if he goes further and chooses confrontation, then we do not care, but he will think a thousand times before making this choice."

About: Middle East Eye   LINK

Frameworkers" Are Trying To Convince The Opponents Within The Bloc To Stay Al-Kazemi For A Longer Time

Posted On2022-05-26 By Sotaliraq   Baghdad / Tamim Al-Hassan  For the second time in a matter of days, indications of moving the waters of stagnant politics for months come from the Kurdistan region, amid a tense atmosphere and talk of "threats".

So far, it seems that all the papers that the political forces threw to get out of the crisis during the past 7 months did not come out with a solution, and what is stable is the continuation of Mustafa Al-Kazemi's government for a longer time.

Despite the failure, what the side dialogues between some currents indicate is that there is a periodic review of all previous proposals, but it is a review that resembles “circulating in a vicious circle.”

One of the suggestions was for Al-Kazemi to announce his resignation, so that the President of the Republic would be forced to assign the candidate of the largest bloc.

In practice, the "triple alliance" is the largest bloc, according to what it announced in an official conference last March. Although he did not specify the number of its seats, estimates speak of 180 seats.

This proposal collides with many legal and realistic obstacles, as there are no indications so far of the intention of the current prime minister, who is the head of a daily caretaker government, to submit his resignation.

Also, submitting the resignation means, according to the latest interpretation of the Federal Court, that he remains the head of the caretaker government.

This last interpretation is also the one who burned another proposal that was put forward and is sometimes discussed, that some ministers of Al-Kazemi’s government be changed, as a pressure card on the coordination framework.

The Federal Reserve closed the door after it stated in its interpretation that the current government (a caretaker government) does not have the right to dismiss or appoint a minister or one of the important positions.

Also, according to the same interpretation, the current parliament does not have the right to vote to dismiss the current ministers, because it is not the parliament that voted to appoint them, in reference to the previous parliament, which dissolved itself days before the early elections that took place last October.

As for the dissolution of the new parliament, the Sadrist movement's circles, according to what they reported to (Al-Mada), that "one of the proposals that may be put forward again after the end of the movement's leader Muqtada al-Sadr's last deadline."

If this option is actually proposed, it will also face a political and legal obstacle, as some forces close to the Sadrists, such as the Sunni Sovereignty Alliance, may refuse to go in this direction, especially since they have gained an important position in the parliament's presidency.

This obstacle leads to the legal obstacle, because in the last statement of the Judicial Council on the procedures for dissolving parliament, it requires certain procedures and the vote of the majority of parliament members, and the rejection of some of the expected “tripartite” parties to dissolve the parliament, in addition to the declared refusal of the “coordinator,” which means the difficulty of achieving this goal. .

The reviews of the political forces also indicate that there is an “adventure” in going again to early elections less than a year after the last elections, which took place last October and were also early, as it is natural that new elections will take place in the event the parliament is dissolved.

The adventure lies in the possibility that the bases of some parties will be shaken due to what happened in the political crisis, and the fear of the expansion of the boycott audience, as the last elections recorded the lowest level of participation since 2005 (the first elections after 2003) with less than 45%.

The “Al-Fatah” coalition, for example, which is one of the components of the coordination framework, lost about 30 seats from its results in 2018, when in 2021, it won only 17 seats, compared to about 50 seats in the previous elections.

In addition, the political forces have to bear new costs for electoral propaganda after only months of spending money estimated at at least 8 million dinars per MP.

The Electoral Commission had also granted a budget of 300 million dollars, which is equivalent to about 45 billion dinars.

Sources from within the coordination framework also indicate that the latter cannot repeat the same mistake, which is accepting to run for elections again with the same election law.

The "Coordination Committee" had considered the decline of its seats in the recent elections, due to the election law "which legislated according to the dimensions of the Sadrist movement", according to their claim. Therefore, if the "frameworkers" accept the re-election, they will demand a change to the law.[

According to this, what is leaking out of discussions between the political forces, the safest solution is to accept the current situation and the continuation of Mustafa Al-Kazemi’s government until finding a solution that satisfies all parties.

Sources within the "Coordination Committee" say that "this idea is raised from time to time... Those who object to Al-Kazemi's stay can be persuaded."

another solution!

On the other hand, there is another solution that may parallel the survival of "Al-Kazemi", a proposal that did not lose sight of the speeches and initiatives of the various political forces during the crisis, which is the merging of the two sides of the rivalry (the current) and (the framework) or part of the latter.

The last proposal may be part of the initiative that is being talked about, which is supposed to be presented by the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Massoud Barzani.

Some expectations indicate that the initiatives will not be able to deviate from the development of proposals to bring the views closer through a “peace” agreement or “merging some of the opposing parties.”

Al-Sadr, according to circles close to the movement, "accepted all parties to the coordination framework, except for Nuri al-Maliki, the former prime minister, and Qais al-Khazali, the leader of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq."

Regarding the expected initiative, Abdul Salam Barwari, a member of the Democratic Party, said in an interview with (Al-Mada) that “the initiative is not on the table yet, but the political forces’ confidence in the party’s leader, Massoud Barzani’s ability to solve crises as he did in 2010 and 2014 prompts everyone to call him to intervene.”

Berwari had said earlier that the Kurdish initiative must be preceded by a willingness on the part of the political forces to start new dialogues.

Berwari revealed at the time to Al-Mada that "a delegation from the party will arrive in Baghdad soon to feel the pulse of the political forces, and after that, the initiative may be launched."

Talk about the "Kurdish solution" began to escalate with new meetings between the Kurdish forces taking place for the first time in 4 months.

Yesterday, the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, renewed his hope to open the way to settling differences in Baghdad, through meetings taking place in the region between the Democratic Party and its rival, the Patriotic Union.

In a meeting yesterday with one of the ambassadors of European countries, the region's president stressed the importance of having a common vision and understanding between the Iraqi parties in order to reach a solution that would lead to overcoming the political closure and blockage.

This statement came in a statement issued by the latter's office during his reception on Wednesday morning, Mark Bryson, the British ambassador to Iraq, and an accompanying political and military delegation.

Shortly before that, the office of the region's president announced the date of a meeting between the president of the Kurdistan region, Nechirvan Barzani, and the head of the National Union Party, Bafel Talabani.

A high-ranking employee in the office stated to Kurdish media, that a delegation from the Political Bureau of the Democratic Party is scheduled to meet today, Wednesday (yesterday), with a delegation from the Political Bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, in the presence of the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, and the President of the Patriotic Union, Bafel Talabani.

This development came after the last meeting that took place recently, between the president of the region and the leaders of the "Union" and other Kurdish parties in Sulaymaniyah.

According to Abdul Salam Berwari, "there is a meeting soon at the summit level that will take place between the two parties (the Democratic Union and the Union)."

Some of the leaks had considered that the Kurdish-Kurdish agreement might harm the "coordinating framework" because it would increase the seats of the "troika" front, and it may have been behind the recent escalation of the group calling itself the "Iraqi Resistance".

This group had accused the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, of training "subversive groups" in the region under the auspices of Israel, to strike vital targets in the country, which was rejected by the authorities in the Kurdistan region, and threatened a violent response to any aggression against it.

Most political forces view the convergence of the two main Kurdish parties as ending half of the government formation node, as it is hoped that the two parties will agree on one candidate for the presidency, which in turn will assign the candidate of the largest bloc to form the government. LINK