Iraq: Preconditions for al-Sadr’s allies on the forces of the “coordinating framework”
Iraq: Preconditions for al-Sadr’s allies on the forces of the “coordinating framework”
9-13-2022
Well-informed Iraqi political sources in Baghdad and Erbil revealed, on Monday, to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, preconditions for the “Sovereignty” alliance, the largest Sunni Arab political forces in Iraq, and the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party in the Kurdistan region, before entering into any understandings with the forces of “Sovereignty.” Coordination framework. These conditions relate to the question of forming a government or activating the work of the current parliament.
The sources confirmed that the two political parties agreed to unify their vision regarding the current crisis, taking into account maintaining their rapprochement with the “Sadr movement” led by Muqtada al-Sadr. The latter continues his refusal to enter into any political dialogue, as well as his opposition to the return of the deputies of his resigned bloc from Parliament through the gate of the Federal Court.
Sunday, the leaders of the two alliances held a meeting that lasted several hours in Erbil, in which the head of the “sovereignty” alliance Khamis al-Khanjar and Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi participated, along with the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Massoud Barzani, and the president of the region, Nechirvan Barzani, and other figures from both sides attended. the two parties.
Al-Sadr’s allies agree that trying to break him politically and make him lose will not be a good thing.
The “Sovereignty” coalition (consisting of the “Azm” and “Progress” movements) and the “Kurdistan Democratic Party” issued a joint statement after the meeting, in which they confirmed a number of new points related to the crisis , which have become official positions for them. Among the most prominent of these positions is the emphasis on “the importance of holding early elections” and “forming a government that enjoys full authority and enjoys the confidence and reassurance of everyone with an agreed government program, while emphasizing the need for Parliament to continue its work until the election date.”
The statement, which was also considered as a response to al-Sadr’s call for his only allies (the Sovereignty and the Kurdistan Democratic Party), last week, to go to dissolve parliament, touched on the willingness of the two parties to “contribute to the convergence of views between all parties,” in reference to the two main camps of the crisis, The Coordinating Framework” and the Sadrist Movement.
Finally , al-Sadr , in his comment on the Federal Court’s rejection of the Sadrist movement’s request to dissolve parliament for its failure to carry out its constitutional duties, considered that as soon as his two allies withdraw from parliament, “the parliament will lose its legitimacy and will be dissolved directly.”
Al-Sadr’s allies… a unified position on the crisis
Yesterday, Monday, Kurdish political sources from the Kurdistan Democratic Party told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the closed meeting between the leaders of the “Sovereignty” coalition and the ruling party in Erbil led to a number of important understandings, most notably “unifying political positions regarding the crisis and entering on one terms in the exit negotiations.” Of which”.
One of the sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that among the conditions that the “coordination framework” forces must deal with and respond to is “setting a fixed date for dissolving parliament after setting the date for holding new elections, no later than December of next year.” The two allies also require “the formation of a new government with full powers, approved by the Sadrist movement in terms of the name of the prime minister and members of the ministerial lineup.”
The source added that “without achieving these conditions, the sovereignty and the Kurdistan Democratic Party will not go with the framework in the path of forming the government.” He added, however, that “the two sides agree that trying to break al-Sadr politically and remove him as a loser from this confrontation will not be a good thing,” as he put it.
For his part, another source denied that the position of Sadr’s new allies amounted to “abandoning the partnership with the Sadrist movement,” stressing that it also does not mean “a rapprochement with the coordination framework, as much as it is the position of the two blocs on the crisis while imposing their conditions and perception.” The source stressed that “there is no intention to hold any meeting between the Sovereignty Alliance and the Kurdistan Democratic Party on the one hand, and the coordinating framework forces on the other.” He pointed out that “all meetings and meetings are postponed until after the end of the ceremonies of the Arbaeen visit” on September 17, that is, next Saturday.
Despite calls for calm and a reduction of political discourse in Iraq between the various parties to the crisis, the former Prime Minister and leader of the “Coordination Framework” alliance, close to Tehran, Nouri al-Maliki, on Monday, escalated his speech again . Al-Maliki issued a statement calling for the formation of the new government and the resumption of the work of Parliament, considering that there is no longer a need to talk about dissolving it, after the Federal Court refused, last week, to consider the complaint of the “Sadr movement”, which it considered outside the framework of its constitutional powers.
Among the conditions of the two allies of al-Sadr on the coordination framework, setting a date for the dissolution of parliament after setting the date for the elections, and the formation of a government with full powers
On the other hand, the leader of the “Victory Coalition” and the leader in the “framework” Haider al-Abadi responded to al-Maliki with a tweet, in which he said, “Any path based on breaking the will will be a disaster for the people and the state.” He called for “a political agreement that leads to the current phase being considered transitional, beginning with the formation of a government and ending with the dissolution of parliament and holding early elections.” Al-Abadi stressed that “the interests of the people and the stability of the state are higher and more valuable than any partisan or factional interest.”
Everyone is waiting for the “Arba’een” to end.
Commenting on the developments of the political scene in the country, Aid Al-Hilali, a member of the Coordination Framework, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “the position of the Sovereignty Alliance and the Kurdistan Democratic Party represents an advanced step towards resolving the formation of the new government, as everyone is well aware that it is not possible to proceed with the political process.” Without constitutional and legal contexts,” he said.
Al-Hilali indicated that his coalition “does not seek to form a government that investigates the Sadrist movement, but rather wants to form a consensual coalition government supported by the movement, and for this we always call on the Sadrists for dialogue in order to reach understandings to resolve the political blockage.”
Al-Hilali added that “so far, there are no meetings with the Sovereignty Alliance and the Kurdistan Democratic Party after their last position on the political crisis, and the start of dialogues will be after the end of the forty-day visit ceremony, and we will work and seek to involve the Sadrist movement in these dialogues to stop any escalation in the street that may occur after The fortieth visit.
In turn, a member of the “Sadr movement” responded to the political developments that “the general position of the Sadrist movement will be determined by Muqtada al-Sadr,” considering that “expecting to proceed with a framework government easily is a big mistake,” referring to the forces of the “coordinating framework.” The source added, asking not to be named, in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that “political changes in Iraq happen quickly, and we do not know what will happen next week after the end of the visit’s ceremonies, as the whole country is waiting.”
A member of the Sadrist movement: We do not know what changes will happen after the fortieth visit
On the other hand, Iraqi political analyst Ahmed Al-Sharifi said, in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that “the political blocs all realize that they cannot ignore the Sadrist movement and take the initiative to form a government rejected by the Sadrists. The street, and he may repeat the issue of storming the House of Representatives and the entire Green Zone.”
Al-Sharifi indicated that “the proposal of the Sovereignty Alliance and the Kurdistan Democratic Party regarding the dissolution of parliament and the formation of the government is not new, but there are those who promoted this position as a position that opposes and violates agreements with the Sadrist movement.” He said, “Everyone knows very well that holding the elections requires a government with full powers, and that the parliament must be dissolved a few days before the electoral process takes place. The government cannot be left without any parliamentary oversight, and this is what happened during the last early elections.”
He added: “We believe that communication and coordination is still going on between the Sovereignty Alliance, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Sadrist movement, and that the Sovereignty and the Democrat will work to impose al-Sadr’s conditions during negotiations with the framework on forming the government, the most important of which is changing the framework candidate for prime minister and defining the tasks of the government in one year.”
The axes of the Iraqi political crisis are currently summarized in the insistence of the “coordinating framework” forces, which includes the political forces close to Tehran, to resume the sessions of the Iraqi parliament and resume its work in full. It is also characterized by electing a president and a prime minister with full powers instead of the current caretaker government headed by Mustafa Al-Kazemi, and then going towards amending the current election law. The “coordinating framework” forces see in the current law a reason for the decline of their parliamentary seats in the recent elections. It also insists on changing the Electoral Commission before going to dissolve parliament and hold early elections.
On the other hand, the Sadrist movement rejects this and insists on dissolving parliament and holding early elections within 9 months. It also proposes amending Paragraph 76 of the Constitution related to the largest bloc that has the right to form a government. He also raises another demand, which is the amendment of the Federal Court law to be more independent from the political parties, which, since 2005, have actually chosen the 11 members of this court, using sectarian and partisan quotas.
In addition, the Sadrist movement refuses to amend the electoral law and insists on its continuation. The current law adopted the system of multiple districts and the victory of the representative with the most votes, in contrast to the previous law known as the “Saint Legault” law. The latter granted a numerical majority to the large political forces at the expense of the emerging and small political forces, due to the provision of the numerical denominator in the distribution of electoral district votes. The “Sadr movement” also raises its veto in front of any government that is formed, whether temporary or permanent, through the participation of the “State of Law” blocs led by Nuri al-Maliki, and “Sadiqoon” led by Qais Khazali.
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