Tuesday Afternoon Iraq Parliament News Highlights 10-4-22

President Barzani And Al-Kazemi Discuss Security Challenges And The Iraqi Political Process

Posted On2022-10-04 By Sotaliraq   President Masoud Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi discussed in Erbil on Monday the most prominent security challenges facing Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, as well as the future of the political process in Iraq.

This comes as part of a visit by Al-Kazemi to the Kurdistan Region to discuss a number of political issues and issues in Iraq and the region with Kurdish leaders in the region.

During the meeting, they exchanged views on the political situation in the country and the latest developments in the Iraqi political process, stressing the importance of the political parties' adoption of dialogue and understanding as a way to resolve issues.

In another aspect of the meeting, security challenges and joint coordination between Erbil and Baghdad were discussed, especially the issue of combating terrorism and ensuring stability.   LINK

Parliamentary Sessions Are Expected After Only One Condition Is Met

Posted On2022-10-04 By Sotaliraq   The coordination framework confirmed, on Tuesday, that the general situation in Iraq is ripe for the resumption of parliamentary sessions, indicating that its convening depends on the consensus of the Kurds.

And the leader, Fahd al-Jubouri, said in an interview, that "there are no obstacles to convening the next parliament sessions, especially after the previous parliament session was held and the deputy speaker of parliament was chosen."

He added, "The political forces that withdrew from the political process did not express a position opposing the convening of the council's sessions, so the situation is ripe for holding any upcoming session," noting that "the holding of the session for selecting the president of the republic depends on the Kurds reaching a common agreement."  LINK

Extension: There is no choice but for Iraq to become its own master

Posted On2022-10-04 By Sotaliraq   The extension movement affirmed, with regard to the sovereignty of the country, that there is no choice but for Iraq to become its own master, stressing that international and regional powers should not interfere by imposing their will in forming its future governments.

This came in a statement: Monday (October 3, 2022), on the occasion of the anniversary of Iraq's accession as a member of the League of Nations in 1932 and the global recognition of its sovereignty.

The movement, which emerged from the October 2019 demonstrations, expressed its ambition for Iraq to obtain its "true sovereignty".

The statement added: "After ninety years, we see that sovereignty is being violated every day by neighboring countries and other international forces, loose weapons, and the mafias of corrupt parties that swallowed up the wealth of this rich country."

An extension movement, which held that “there is no choice but for Iraq to become its own master, and the international and regional powers have no say in imposing their will to form its successive governments, so that the outcomes will be national governments that cannot be blackmailed or weakened by those forces that only care about their interests and the interests of their people.”

Thus, “Extension” announced that their joy and celebration of this occasion would be suspended until “the return of full sovereignty.”

It is worth noting that the United Nations Security Council will hold a session on the situation in Iraq tomorrow, Tuesday (4 October 2022).

And the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), stated in a statement today, that the United Nations Security Council will hold a session on the situation in Iraq on Tuesday, at 10:00 a.m. New York time (5:00 p.m. Baghdad time).

The statement added that "the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, is expected to brief the session on developments in Iraq, and on the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

This comes in light of the political paralysis in Iraq for months, and the accompanying demonstrations in Baghdad and many provinces, demonstrations on the third anniversary of the October protests, the intense security deployment of the security forces, and the closure and cutting of several bridges, roads and squares in Iraqi cities

Where the parties still monopolize the political scene a year after the legislative elections in October 2021, politicians are still quarreling unable to choose a new prime minister.   LINK

The Frame” Catches Its Breath After The Dispersal Of The Saturday Protests, And Al-Sadr Tweets: The Blessed State Without Militias

Posted On2022-10-04 By Sotaliraq  Baghdad / Tamim Al-Hassan  The coordination framework caught its breath after the dispersal of Saturday's demonstrations, and understood what happened that day as a green light to proceed with the formation of a coalition government under his leadership.

News circulates in political circles about setting the end of this month as a date for a session to nominate the President of the Republic, in preparation for the presentation of the new cabinet.

But on the other hand, the level of confidence of the "framework" of the street's reactions to his plan is not equal. There are those within the Shiite bloc who are still pessimistic.

This pessimism is supported by the protesters' announcement that they will return after two weeks to demonstrate if the political forces do not respond to the list of demands broadcast on Saturday, and the difficulty of predicting the movements of the Sadrists.

To remove embarrassment from the "framework" and to anticipate any unexpected scenarios, the latter is still promoting the idea of ​​the "outstretched hand" in his speech with al-Sadr.

Yesterday, Al-Sadr broke some of his political silence that has been going on for about a month, and repeated his famous phrase, "Neither Eastern nor Western", in a tweet on the occasion of the National Day.

In the week preceding the demonstrations commemorating the third anniversary of the October demonstrations, the coordination framework had announced unofficially a new coalition that includes all political forces except for al-Sadr.

A Shiite politician close to Al-Attar said in an interview with Al-Mada that "the end of Saturday's demonstrations has indications that there is no opposition to the formation of the government of Muhammad Al-Sudani."

The security forces used stun grenades and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators in Tahrir Square on Saturday evening, hours after stones and Molotov cocktails were thrown between the two parties.

The number of wounded among the demonstrators has fluctuated, reaching about 200, as a result of suffocation and stone injuries, according to activists.

On the other hand, the official statistics issued by the Government Media Cell spoke of about 30 casualties, between military and civilians.

The media cell said it had arrested what it described as "infiltrators" who were throwing glass balls at the security forces.

Thousands gathered on Saturday morning in the Tahrir Squares in central Baghdad, and Al-Nusour, west of the capital, to demand the prevention of the formation of a government according to party sizes, and the punishment of the killers of Tishreen.

After the dispersal of the protests, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi announced that his government had met the demands of the 2019 demonstrations, to treat the wounded and arrest the "death squads."

Last Friday, Al-Kazemi issued strict orders not to fire live bullets at the protesters, and to prevent any armed demonstrations.

And the coordinating framework had expected to repeat last Saturday, the scenario of what happened 3 years ago, when the sit-ins lasted about 6 months before “Corona” spread and the Al-Kazemi government was formed.

In light of these concerns, the "framework" postponed the announcement of the state administration coalition, as a press conference on the new coalition or signature papers on the agreement had not yet appeared.

The politician who is close to the "framework" adds after the dispersal of the protests that: "The new coalition has no choice but to proceed with the understandings to form the government."

The coordination framework considered what happened last Saturday as a result of the infiltration of a number of "saboteurs and intruders" in the demonstrations.

The framework stated in a statement on Sunday that it "appreciates the great role played by the participating security forces in protecting state institutions and the demonstrators alike from intruders and saboteurs who committed some unacceptable violations and abuses during the Saturday demonstrations."

He added that «the right to peaceful demonstration and to demand legitimate rights within the ceiling of the constitution and the law to ensure that the Iraqi people form a new government with full powers, capable of imposing security, providing services and eliminating corruption».

Political mines!

The politician believes that there are "mines" and "pitfalls" in front of forming a government that need additional dialogues, such as the issue of the pledge to keep the Popular Mobilization away from some Sunni areas, and the relationship with the Kurdistan region.

As for the most concerned factor among some "frameworkers", according to what the informed politician conveys, it is "the difficulty of knowing what is going on in the minds of the Sadrist movement, which is believed to have participated in Saturday's protests."

Al-Sadr broke his silence yesterday, which began about a month ago, in what was known as the "Arba'een truce" imposed by the atmosphere of the Arba'een visit of Imam Hussein in Karbala.

And the leader of the movement said in his last tweet on "Twitter", commenting on the national day, that "the real national day of Iraq is the day of its liberation from corruption and spoilers."

Al-Sadr added: “On the day of true reform, there is no subordination, no quotas, no experiment, no corruption, no external interference, no militias.”

Al-Sadr also referred in his tweet to what he described as the "blessed state", which is "neither Eastern nor Western."

Al-Sadr's circles had recently hinted at the possibility of returning to the street, with a date for choosing the president of the republic.

The resigned Sadrist MP Haider al-Muhammadawi said on his Facebook page that "the session for selecting the president of the republic and assigning the prime minister will be decisive (the last fight)."

On the other hand, the Sadrists' calls meet with the protesters, as activists talk about Ayyo's rejection of a government formed by the coordination framework.

Before the withdrawal, the protesters in Al-Nusour Square gave the parties until the 25th of this month to leave the political process, vowing to take "escalatory" steps.

The final statement of the demonstration about the demonstrators stated that: "Our goal is to change the political system (...) and to zero in on the entire existing political process."

The statement added: “We will give all political forces until the twenty-fifth of this October, to leave the political process and zero it, otherwise we are proceeding with larger and broader steps and escalatory mechanisms, and we will not give them the opportunity to rest.”

They also called for a "interim transitional government under international supervision", led by an elite of patriots, provided that none of the personalities who held positions after 2003 should be in it.

According to the scenes of the discussions of the political forces, the date of the 30th of this month for the elections of the President of the Republic is set, and it seems that the date came to wait for what might happen on the 25th of next.

But so far, there is no date for a future session of Parliament, with the exception of the announcement by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Shakhwan Abdullah, about collecting the signatures of 125 deputies to discuss the Iranian bombing of Erbil. 

Shakhwan said in a statement to Kurdish media that the signatures had already been collected, but "without setting a date for the session."

Meanwhile, Jawad al-Ghazali, a representative of the state of law, told Al-Mada that "the coordinating framework still has dialogues with all political forces, and that its hands and heart are open to the Sadrist movement."

The "frameworks" had revealed the possibility of conceding half of the supposed Shiite ministries in the next government (6 out of 12) to the Sadrist movement and discussing early elections.

Al-Ghazali adds that "holding early elections is linked to the opinion of the parliament, the new government, the amendment of the law and the commission."   LINK