Some "Thursday News " From KTFA 6-16-2022
KTFA:
Clare: FROM FRANK....I HAVE DECIDED TO DO A UB2B THURSDAY NIGHT, 6/16
ON THE NEW ATM ARTICLE (WELL DONE SAMSON, THANK YOU)........STARTING @6PM EST
Samson: Parliamentary Finance comments on the decision to install contracts within the Food Security Law
16th June, 2022
Today, Thursday, the Parliamentary Finance Committee commented on the decision of the Council of Ministers yesterday regarding the confirmation of contractors within the Food Security Law.
Committee member Nazim al-Shibli said in an exclusive interview with "Mawazine News", "The allocation that was put forward in the Food Security Law was to improve the reality of the lecturers' situation and transfer them to a higher degree, as well as 315 contracts and also for contracts whose conditions are met by the stabilization mechanism to improve the economic reality for all groups."
He added, "The Food Security Law included voting on 1,000 contract degrees for each governorate, and the application of these paragraphs belongs to the Ministry of Finance for the benefit of our children." LINK
**************
Samson: Al-Sadr sets one condition before his return to the political process
15th June, 2022
On Wednesday, the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, set one condition before his return to the political process, indicating that he would not participate in any elections in which the "corrupt" participate.
Al-Sadr said in a meeting with deputies of the Sadrist bloc, which was held today in Al-Hanana in the Najaf governorate, "I decided to withdraw from the political process so as not to participate with the corrupt in any way." He added, "If the corrupt participate in the upcoming elections, I will not participate in them."
Al-Sadr continued, addressing the resigned Sadrist bloc deputies, "If the corrupt are removed and I participate in the upcoming elections, you will represent the Sadrist bloc again."
Earlier today, Wednesday, the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, held a closed meeting with representatives of the Sadrist bloc who had resigned from Parliament.
A source close to the Sadrist movement told Shafak News Agency that all the Sadrist bloc's deputies who resigned from the parliament, along with the president and members of the political body of al-Sadr's office, attended, today, to the office of Mr. LINK
*************
Al-Sadr : I will not participate in the upcoming elections in the presence of the corrupt
15th June, 2022The leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, confirmed today, Wednesday, that he will not participate in the upcoming elections in the presence of the corrupt.
Al-Sadr said during his meeting with members of the Sadrist bloc in Najaf, followed by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "and after welcoming you and before farewell between us and after thanking you for your positions and unity, I would like to tell you one thing, that I decided to withdraw from the political process so that I do not participate with the corrupt in any way." One of the images, neither in this world nor in the hereafter.
He added, "I want to tell you, in the upcoming elections, I will not participate in the presence of the corrupt, and this is a covenant between me and God, between me and you, and with my people, unless God relieves and removes the corrupt and everyone who plundered and stole Iraq and permitted bloodshed."
Addressing members of the Sadrist bloc, he continued, "If we participate in the corresponding elections, keep women and men on standby, and do not disperse and integrate politically, ideologically, parliamentary and legally, and communicate with the Iraqi people." LINK
***************
Samson: The World Bank warns of the impact of the delay in forming the government and approving the budget on the growth of Iraq's economy
16th June, 2022
A report issued by the World Bank warned of the impact of the delay in forming the government and approving the budget on the growth of Iraq's economy.
The report said, "Iraq is gradually emerging from the deep recession that it experienced in 2020 due to the Corona Virus (Covid-19) pandemic and the accompanying collapse in oil prices, as after a contraction of more than 11% in 2020, the Iraqi economy achieved a growth rate of 2.8% in 2021 with the easing of restrictions imposed by the Corona pandemic on movement, and this growth was supported by a strong expansion in non-oil production, especially in the services sector. He added, "With the gradual cancellation of the "OPEC +" production cuts, oil GDP also began to grow in the second half of 2021, and the rise in oil revenues prompted a surplus in public financial balances and total external balances in Iraq in 2021."
The report quoted Saroj Kumar Jha, Regional Director of the Mashreq Department at the World Bank, as saying: “Iraq has a unique opportunity to undertake urgent and wide-ranging structural reforms through 3 means: taking advantage of the fiscal space resulting from its recent sudden oil revenues, and secondly, redirecting government spending towards programs that Improving growth is critical to economic diversification and job creation, and thirdly, addressing the country’s human capital crisis.”
The World Bank report confirms that “the current food security challenges in Iraq have intensified in the midst of the current rise in global commodity prices, while the level of local food production is below the level of demand caused by rapid population growth, and severe droughts and other climate change factors have led to exacerbate this situation, and while subsidies and direct transfers can help mitigate these negative impacts in the short term, achieving food security requires coordinated efforts to improve local food production and more efficient management of water resources.
The report pointed out that "the financial, social and economic challenges in Iraq underscore the need to accelerate the pace of much-needed macro-structural and financial reforms to remove obstacles to private sector development, increase investments in water efficiency and agri-food systems, and shift towards more sustainable sources of energy, in addition to Decarbonization of the transportation sector.
The report says, "A further delay in forming the government and approving the 2022 budget may lead to limiting the use of the country's sudden oil revenues, as the actual ceilings of the 2021 budget have been reached, and suspending the implementation of new investment projects, which may reduce economic growth." The white paper "developed by the Iraqi government remains a model and a bold blueprint for a comprehensive economic reform program towards economic diversification."
The report singles out a special chapter on the “Corona pandemic and the human capital crisis,” and says, “A child born in Iraq prior to the Corona pandemic may have a productivity of only 41% when he reaches the age of eighteen, than it would have been if he enjoyed a full education and full health, as the pandemic has affected the human capital in Iraq by negatively affecting the health of workers today and their level of economic well-being, as well as by reducing the potential productivity of the future generation in Iraq. Addressing such challenges requires taking an educational reform path to raise the level of learning and skills development among Iraqi children. LINK
Samson: Integrity : Prison sentences for the former governor of Babylon and the former director of the Trade Bank of Iraq
16th June, 2022
Today, Thursday, the IntegrityCommission announced the details of the sentences issued against a number of officials, noting that the sentences included imprisonment for the governor of Babylon and the former director of the Trade Bank of Iraq.
The Commission's Investigation Department stated, in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the Babylon Criminal Court - the Third Commission issued a prison sentence in absentia against the former governor of Babylon, for blackmailing and bargaining with complainants, for the purpose of disbursing their financial dues resulting from the implementation of a project to equip and install two devices (ringing). and Mefras Helwani) at Marjan Hospital in 2018. And she added, "The court issued a seven-year prison sentence to the convict in accordance with the provisions of Resolution (160 of 1983), with an arrest and investigation order issued against him."
The department confirmed, "The Rusafa Criminal Court issued a ruling in absentia imposing a prison sentence of seven years on the former Director General of the Iraqi Trade Bank, on the issue of exaggerating the purchase price of a real estate in Basra Governorate."
The statement continued, "The Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court issued a judgment in attendance to imprison the Director of the Legal Department of the Civil Aviation Authority, on the charge of receiving a sum of money from a director of a company, in return for performing one of his duties, and facilitating contract procedures for the complainant." That "the court decided to imprison the convict for seven years, based on resolution (160 of 1983), with the imposition of a fine of ten million dinars against him."
And he stated that “a verdict was issued in attendance to imprison the director of the yellow maize plant located in the Al-Alam district in Salah al-Din Governorate, for seizing an amount of (57,687,000) dinars, for the value of (187.5) tons of yellow maize, noting that “the Salah al-Din Criminal Court - the Commission The second issued its decision to imprison the director of the laboratory in his presence for a period of six years in accordance with the provisions of Article 318 of the Penal Code in reference to the provisions of the subscription articles (47, 48 and 49) of it. LINK