Iraq: Non-provocative names to head the “one-year” government
Iraq: Non-provocative names to head the “one-year” government
9-17-2022
With Iraqi political parties seeking a settlement to end the current crisis in the country by forming a new government that prepares for new elections within a period not exceeding a year, new names have begun to emerge to head this government, as non-provocative figures of the leader of the Sadrist movement Muqtada al-Sadr, who may contribute to stopping any An escalating step for him to impede the formation of the “coordinating framework” of the next government, with al-Sadr rejecting the candidate announced by the “coordination” Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani.
The political forces in Iraq are awaiting, next week, the end of what has been taken for granted as a temporary truce after the end of the religious ceremonies of the Arbaeen visit, between the two political opponents, the Sadrist movement and the “coordinating framework” alliance, which includes a number of political parties and wings linked to influential armed factions in the country. An ally of Iran.
An upcoming meeting of the “coordination framework” Monday
A prominent leader in the “Al-Fateh” coalition led by Hadi Al-Amiri told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the “coordinating framework” will discuss, in an upcoming meeting next Monday, the axes of its movement towards other political forces regarding the formation of the new government.
The Coordination Framework decided to proceed with the selection of Hadi Al-Amiri as a negotiator with the rest of the political forces
He revealed that the “framework” actually decided to proceed with the selection of Hadi al-Amiri as a negotiator and representative of the alliance with the rest of the political forces, which in practice means the removal of the leader of the “state of law” Nuri al-Maliki from the front of the decision, or at least the lead in the “coordinating framework” negotiations with other blocks.
The official, who asked not to be named, stated that “the coordination framework has not received any official request or condition from the Sovereignty Alliance or the Kurdistan Democratic Party so far, and the announced conditions, or negotiation points for the two parties, were through the media, not through Direct communication channels between the two parties.
Conditions of the “Coordination Framework”
But he pointed out that “the coordinating framework does not reject the project of going to new elections within one year, but on the condition that there is a new government with full powers, which is formed through the coordinating framework, and that the election law is considered and important items are amended, especially with regard to electronic counting and sorting operations. And the manual vote of the voters, as well as the change of the current electoral commission, which failed to organize the voting process, and the elections were marred by many mistakes and lapses.”
Maliki and Khazali cling to the Sudanese
He revealed that there is a dispute within the “coordinating framework” about changing the coalition’s candidate to form the new government, as there are 4 main parties in the coalition with the replacement of Muhammad Shia al-Sudani with another candidate who is not provoked or not rejected by al-Sadr, but “Al-Maliki and (Qais) Khazali oppose change it yet.” He added that Hadi Al-Amiri, Haider Al-Abadi and Faleh Al-Fayyad are with the change of Al-Sudani if this contributes to overcoming this crisis.
The past two days witnessed the introduction of several names, all of which share good relations with Al-Sadr, and it is possible that he will not object to them. Among the most prominent of these names are National Security Adviser Qassem al-Araji, the current governor of Basra, Asaad al-Eidani, the former governor of Najaf, Adnan al-Zarfi, and former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. To a lesser extent, the names of the former Youth Minister, Abdul Hussein Abtan, and the advisor to the Presidency of the Republic, Ali Al-Shukri, are circulating, according to what was confirmed by two Iraqi politicians with whom Al-Araby Al-Jadeed spoke.
One of them, a member of the “Victory” coalition led by Haider al-Abadi, told “Al-Araby Al-Jadeed” that “the names proposed for heading the new government take into account the idea of being accepted by Muqtada al-Sadr, and not being affiliated with his political opponents, specifically Nuri al-Maliki, Ammar al-Hakim and Qais al-Khazali.” “.
He added that “the birth of the new government will remain subject to al-Sadr’s acceptance of the procedures that accompany its formation, starting with its president and members of its cabinet and its scheduled duration.”
No government before December
For his part, the other politician told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, “Any progress in the political crisis remains subject to Al-Sadr’s acceptance of the proposed settlement based on the one-year government, and going to early elections.” But he stressed that Iraq will not see a new government before next December in the best case, even if a political breakthrough is achieved.
Meanwhile, the “Coordination Framework” announced, on Friday, that it had submitted a formal request to the Presidency of Parliament to hold a new parliamentary session, in an initial step for it to move towards forming the new government.
“A request was submitted to the parliament’s presidency to hold a parliamentary session after the end of the forty-day visit,” said Aref Al-Hamami, a representative from Al-Attar. “.
He added that “the step comes in order to reactivate the work of Parliament “, considering that “according to the law, the Speaker of Parliament cannot refrain from holding sessions.” On July 30, Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi announced the suspension of parliament’s work until further notice, after al-Sadr’s supporters stormed the Green Zone in central Baghdad and took control of the parliament building.
For his part, a member of the “Coordination Framework” MP for the “State of Law” coalition, Thaer Mekheifa, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “the resumption of Parliament’s work is the first sign of a political solution in the country, a strengthening of the law and protection of the constitution.” We hope, through the submitted signatures, that the Speaker of Parliament will announce, next week, the cancellation of the suspension and the resumption of the House of Representatives officially, to exercise its oversight and legislative role as well.
The Coordination Framework submitted a formal request to the Parliament Presidency to hold a new parliamentary session
And he considered that the current government “cannot proceed with any legislative elections, and Iraq needs a government with full powers to proceed with such benefits, according to the constitution and the law that stipulates this,” expressing his hope that Parliament will resume its work by a decision issued within the next week.
Adoption of the Shadow Candidates Scenario
Commenting on the current situation, Ihsan Al-Shammari, head of the Center for Political Thinking in Baghdad, said in a statement to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “the traditional political forces previously adopted the strategy of shadow candidates, and now they are adopting the same scenario, which includes choosing the so-called independents, but in fact they are They represent many political interfaces, not just the framework.”
Al-Shammari indicated that “the adoption of the coordination framework on these figures with an independent appearance comes to reduce the momentum of pressure by the Sadrist movement, which is pushing towards an independent government, and not to anger the Iraqi public opinion and to deceive it to keep the ministries away from the quota system.”
Regarding the nomination of the “coordinating framework” Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani, Al-Shammari pointed out that “ the problem is no longer related to Al-Sudani, but rather not to anger the chest, and accordingly, the framework will search for a settlement, or a satisfactory personality for the movement so that there is no major provocation. Therefore, we expect everything, and we have previously witnessed the nomination of many personalities and then retreat from them, and the framework may be forced to compromise in order to be able to form a government.”
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