"Tidbits From TNT" Monday 8-1-2022

Aug 1

TNT:

Tishwash: It is expected that Iraq will achieve 120 billion dollars in oil revenues this year

The researcher in economic affairs, Hamza Al-Hardan, expected that Iraq would achieve 120 billion dollars in oil revenues this year. Al-Hardan said, in a press statement, that: "The opportunity for high oil prices comes to Iraq again after the world witnessed a rise in oil prices nearly ten years ago, and the country did not benefit from it in real terms, relying on its rentier economy (oil money) to fill its operating and investment expenses."

He called on the federal government to "properly invest the opportunity of rising oil prices this time, because it is expected that oil revenues for this year will reach more than 120 billion dollars."

And Al-Hardan indicated, "This increase in oil prices can continue, which may be reflected positively so that there will be a turning point in the Iraqi economy, through the correct and sound investment operations, and the establishment of projects supporting the Iraqi budget and the lack of complete dependence on the oil sector."

He stressed "the necessity of investing opportunities to develop the economic sectors and industrial and agricultural facilities, and to develop projects that can be an essential source of transforming the national economy from rentier to diversified."

Al-Hardan stressed, "This increase is a temporary opportunity due to international factors and variables, and the possibility of the end of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, which will be followed by international agreements to reduce global oil prices."

The jump in oil prices came to save Iraq from stifling economic and financial crises, and to get it out of the predicament of borrowing, depleting cash reserves and exacerbating the budget deficit.

And revenues from Iraqi oil exports, during the month of June, amounted to about 11.505 billion dollars, according to official figures issued by the Ministry of Oil in Baghdad. The ministry said in a statement that the total amount of crude oil exports for the same month amounted to more than 101 million barrels. link

************

Tishwash: State of Law: Al-Kazemi implements a plan in order to ensure his continuation in power

A member of the State of Law coalition, Fadel Al-Azrajawi, criticized the daily practices of the caretaker prime minister, pointing out that Al-Kazemi is implementing a plan that has been prepared in advance with the support of some internal parties and external support in order to ensure his continuation in power.

Al-Azrajawi said in a press statement, which was monitored by The Independent, that "some parties are seeking to keep Al-Kazemi in his current position and not go towards choosing a prime minister and forming a new government."

He added, "Al-Kazemi is benefiting from the Emirati and Gulf external support in general, after he signed some agreements with them, and therefore he is externally supported in addition to the internal support he receives today to remain in the position and drag the country towards normalization."

And he indicated that "everything that is happening today in the Green Zone stands behind Al-Kazemi, as he opened the doors for demonstrations in order to ensure that he remains in the position, as the Prime Minister deliberately implemented a plan that had been prepared in advance link

************

Tishwash: Reuters report reveals al-Sadr's demands, dissolving parliament and reforming the judiciary

Supporters of Iraqi populist leader Muqtada al-Sadr pitched tents and prepared for an open sit-in in front of the Iraqi parliament on Sunday, in a move that could prolong the political crisis or plunge the country into new violence. .

Thousands of loyalists of the Shi'ite cleric stormed the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on Saturday, seizing the empty parliament building for the second time in a week as his Shi'ite rivals try to form a government.

"We will stay until our demands are met. We have many demands," a member of Sadr's political team told Reuters by phone, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to make statements to the media.

The Sadrist official said that Sadr's socio-political movement is demanding the dissolution of parliament, new elections and the replacement of federal judges.

The Sadrist movement came first in the October elections as the largest party in parliament, making up about a quarter of its 329 members.

Allied parties suffered heavy losses in the elections, with the exception of former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Sadr's archenemy.

Al-Sadr failed to form a government devoid of those parties, however, suffering from enough opposition in parliament and rulings by federal courts that prevented him from being chosen for the post of president and prime minister.

He withdrew his deputies from parliament in protests and has since used his own group of poor Shi'ite followers to incite street protests. link