"Tidbits From TNT" Thursday Morning 2-17-2022

News

Feb 17

TNT:

Tishwash: After Parliament directed to send it... a statement from Al-Kazemi's advisor regarding the 2022 budget

Today, Wednesday, the financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed that disrupting the sending of the 2022 budget does not serve the country's interest, while indicating that it is time to send it to Parliament.

Saleh told Al-Rabaa, "The financial authority represented by the Ministry of Finance and one of its most important duties is to prepare the draft annual federal budget law according to pre-defined constitutional timings determined by the constitution and the Financial Management Law."

He added that "the draft budget law is almost complete and prepared to be sent to the legislation, but what happened is that the legislative authority was transferred on 10/10 before the date of sending it, and the executive authority was in a business situation, and there was a constitutional impediment in sending the budget."

He pointed out that "after the election of the legislative authority with the presence of an executive authority and despite the high controversy, it is possible for the executive authority to send the draft law to Parliament for deliberation and discussion to inform the Iraqi people of the state's vision in any direction because the budget is an annual plan that expresses growth rates, distribution and stability for an entire year. ".

And Saleh continued, "We have entered the second month of the year, and I think it is time to send the budget to Parliament, because the disruption in a country like Iraq does not serve the interest of the economic situation in it. The legislative track of the budget should at least send the budget for discussion."

He pointed out that "a country without a budget is working on the applications of the financial management law for last year's expenses, as if there was no change in it, and this is what is called the minimum budgets or the minimum law because the country from year to year witnesses great growth and developments, so it is necessary to send the general budget law for the current year." to Parliament.

And earlier, the Speaker of Parliament, Muhammad Al-Halbousi, directed the secretariat of the Council of Ministers to send the 2022 budget. link

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Tishwash: Iraq has banking secrecy clause lifted from smuggled money in Switzerland

Iraq is a step closer to identifying the amount of money deposited in Swiss banks by the former regime and recovering it, the President of the Federal Commission of Integrity (Nazaha) Judge Alaa Jawad Al-Saadi said yesterday.

The official said Iraq has succeeded in removing international banking secrecy clauses off of smuggled funds in Swiss bank in coordination with the Swiss Treasury.

This comes as part of a campaign launched by Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi to recover the smuggled funds, and to stop the country's wealth being drained through various companies and people.

Smuggled funds are divided into frozen and unfrozen funds believed to be stored mainly in Switzerland and Scandinavia by members of the former regime of the late President Saddam Hussein as well as money smuggled through corrupt deals following the fall of Hussein's regime in 2003.

A spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Justice, Ahmed Laibi, told Anadolu Agency that $150 billion is believed to have been smuggled since 2003 in corrupt deals.

While member of the Parliament Integrity Committee Taha Al-Defei told Al Jazeera Net that the smuggled money is estimated at between $300 and $350 billion.

Both Luaibi and Al-Defei indicated that Iraq does not have data on the amount of frozen and unfrozen funds located abroad, because these funds are registered in the names of companies and individuals and their value and whereabouts are still unknown. Some are in the form of real estate and farms abroad.

Under UN Resolution 1483, member states have agreed to transfer the funds deposited by former Iraqi regime officials to a fund for the reconstruction of the war torn country.

In the same context, Nazaha announced that 11,605 officials; including 54 ministers, were involved in corruption deals during 2021 with 15,290 charges brought against them. link

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Tishwash: Saleh enters the line of the "oil and gas" crisis.. an urgent call to Parliament

Today, Thursday, the President of the Republic, Barham Salih, called on Parliament to "immediate action" to discuss the postponed oil and gas law.

Saleh said in a statement received by NRT Arabic, a copy of it (February 17, 2022), that working on this law should be through "enriching its texts or presenting a new draft law from the executive authority, and approving it without complacency."

He added, "The political forces' hesitation for years in approving the oil and gas law contributed to creating problems and crises, and brought us to this critical moment where we face its consequences today."

Here is the text of the statement:

"In the name of of Allah the Merciful

The Federal Supreme Court issued a judicial ruling on February 15, 2022 on the management of oil in the Kurdistan region, and while we stress the need to respect judicial decisions and adopt what embodies the spirit of the constitution and responds to the interests of Iraqis of all stripes and components, we stress that the main tasks of the President of the Republic are to protect The Iraqi constitution and its implementation, and the protection of the federal democratic system and its constitutional institutions.

The reluctance of the various political forces over the past decade to pass the oil and gas law that regulates the management of oil and gas resources in all parts of Iraq played a negative role that contributed to creating problems and crises, and led to reaching this critical moment where we face its consequences today.

The critical political situation that our country is going through requires all parties to assume a high responsibility to overcome the current worsening crisis, prevent its deterioration and crack the foundations of the constitutional federal democratic system, including the constitutional rights of the Kurdistan region and its institutions within the framework of the Iraqi state system.

And based on the keenness to overcome the state of affairs and what it may constitute of results that are not in the interest of the country, we see the necessity of launching a serious and urgent dialogue between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government to find realistic mechanisms that guarantee coming up with practical solutions that guarantee what the Federal Court wanted to adopt, and in a manner that guarantees the entitlements Constitutional law for the Kurdistan region and guarantees the aspirations of its citizens and other Iraqis by harnessing the imports to serve the citizens away from corruption, mismanagement and political manipulation. without compromise.

In this context, it must be noted that there are many binding constitutional issues, unfortunately postponed, which, in addition to the oil and gas law, constitute an integrated legal cover that preserves the rights of all and achieves integration in the relationship between the federal government, the regional government, and the governorates that are not organized in a region.

In particular, the law of the Federation Council, the missing legislative chamber in the existing political system, which Article 65 of the Constitution expressly and bindingly stipulates. The establishment of this council was not taken seriously, despite the passage of 17 years since the adoption of the constitution.

Also, Article (105) of the constitution obligates the establishment of a public authority concerned with guaranteeing the rights of the regions and governorates, which has also not seen the light so far, as well as Article (106) of the constitution, which obligates the establishment of a “public authority to monitor the distribution of federal imports” which has not yet been implemented. It will only be activated by the end of 2021 and it still needs more support and powers.

All of these missing links, in addition to the lack of approval of the oil and gas law stipulated in Article 112 of the constitution, contributed to creating an abnormal atmosphere for managing oil wealth in Iraq, including the Kurdistan region. Their duties are to complete the constitutional framework for this relationship, of which the Iraqi people were the victims.

The time has come to consider the national responsibility of the relationship between the federal government and the region, which has led to the citizens of the Kurdistan region being subjected to suffering because of unfortunate and unacceptable austerity measures, such as cuts and delays in the salaries of employees and retirees, and that it is a constitutional duty to secure the living rights of citizens and not accept the involvement of their livelihood in political disputes. and turn them into their victims.

On this occasion, we also renew our calls to amend the texts of the constitution, which reality has proven to be inapplicable or responsible for deepening crises, in addition to supplementing and amending the texts regulating the work and formation of the executive and legislative authorities in a manner that makes them protectors and servants of the people and expressive of their free will and independent national decision.

In conclusion, we renew the call for the need to respect the constitutional obligations in the country and to complete the formation of a new government that meets the aspirations of the Iraqis, as the continuation of political debates and the exchange of accusations has become absolutely unacceptable, especially since the country is facing major national challenges and entitlements that do not accept postponement under any pretext. link

Mot: Give me a sentence which includes the words ~~~

Teacher: Give me a sentence which includes the words: defence, defeat, detail.

Fred: Easy! - When a horse jumps over defence, defeat go first and then detail.

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Mot: .. Aaaaahhhhhhhhh -- the POWER of the ""Wee Folks"" ~~~