Saleh before the United Nations: The status quo in Iraq is impossible to continue
Saleh before the United Nations: The status quo in Iraq is impossible to continue
05:58 – 09/23/2020
Baghdad – Mawazine News
President Barham Salih gave a speech to him at the United Nations on Wednesday in a virtual form.
President Saleh said in the speech of Iraq in the work of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, in which he said:
I am pleased to greet you in the name of the Republic of Iraq, the founding state of the United Nations, and I wish the General Assembly in its current session success and success.
This is the first time in the history of the United Nations, during which we meet in the General Assembly virtually .. It is an event that deeply summarizes what we are in facing Covid 19, the transnational threat that continues to threaten our lives, our ways of life, our economy and our societies in general.
This virtual encounter is a true embodiment of the radical changes in the ways of living and communicating between people.
Perhaps it is an historical paradox that we meet and communicate while we are obligated to diverge … so that we isolate under the influence of the epidemic and communicate with the will to work and human life.
The persistence of the threat of an epidemic in any city or village on our planet is a constant threat to the world as a whole.
This confirms the necessity of consolidating the principle of solidarity and joint action between states and societies, with different orientations, in order to eliminate the epidemic or at least limit its harms.
It also stresses the importance of the cooperation of all in developed countries to exchange experiences and information needed to confront the epidemic.
And the need for developed countries to assist developing countries in achieving a healthy environment capable of confronting the epidemic and avoiding its repercussions on life and societies.
Likewise, we must all fight false news regarding the epidemic, as ignorance and the spread of false news threaten the lives of millions.
We also note the importance of early planning to ensure fair distribution of the vaccine when it is available, and taking into account the reduced commercial nature in marketing it in a way that helps the poorest countries be able to obtain it for all their citizens.
We in Iraq have worked with the available capabilities, which are limited by the circumstances surrounding us, to confront the epidemic and reduce its effects through a series of required measures and precautions, yet we still have much to do despite our limited capabilities in health care and the weakness of the infrastructure for health services.
Before and after the outbreak of the epidemic, Iraq faced an epidemic that was no less lethal and dangerous to the world, namely terrorism and corruption.
We have actually succeeded in defeating terrorism militarily and liberating our cities by force of the will of our people and with the sacrifices of our forces, from the army, the popular mobilization and the peshmerga, and with the support of the international coalition and our neighbors.
But the war continues with terrorism and extremism moving across borders and latent in cells sleeping here and there in the deserts of our country.
We cannot underestimate the danger of terrorism and the danger of its return and reorganization of its remnants. We believe that any laxity, complacency, or preoccupation with conflicts in the region will be an outlet for the return of these dark groups.
Likewise, laxity in combating rampant corruption and interfering with the national sovereignty of our countries would also impede efforts to combat terrorism and extremism.
In this context, we hope for support and support from friends in the international community to uncover the smuggled money and the corrupt who smuggle these funds to finance outlaw and extremist groups. Corruption is a scourge that afflicts many countries, and corruption has hijacked Iraqis from enjoying the blessings of their country and even contributed to its destruction for many years. Iraqis feel a lot of bitterness and anger about its impact on their country.
Based on this, I issued last year and through the General Assembly a call to form an international coalition to fight corruption and recover looted funds, similar to the international coalition against terrorism.
Today, too, I repeat this call … as terrorism can only be eradicated by draining its sources of financing and ending corruption as the political economy of violence and terrorism and its destructive effect on the economies of countries and disrupting the people’s will to progress and build.
We must stop at the crimes of genocide and the series of massacres that occurred against the Yazidis in our country, which were aimed at ending their existence, which calls for the international community to stand up and help Iraq to prevent the recurrence of these crimes.
A few days ago, I was in a meeting with female Yazidi and Turkmen Shiite and Shabak citizens who had the opportunity to escape from the brutality of terrorism and the horror of its crimes .. I listened to the painful suffering that still continues despite the passage of more than three years since the liberation of the cities completely. Psychological and physical suffering as a result of the extermination, displacement and psychological and physical torture that happened to them, as they are still living in the camps.
We must work for the return of the displaced and the displaced to their cities and villages, with all the efforts that require that. This also requires friends and the international organization to support our capabilities and efforts.
Iraq is laden with the legacies of more than forty years of wars, suffering, blockade and the desecration of terrorism, and this year, as is the case with other countries, it has suffered from the collapse of oil prices in world markets and the consequences of the global economic crisis as a result of the ordeal of Corona. This simultaneous collapse of the epidemic had a dangerous impact, suddenly putting us in front of enormous challenges.
Almost a year has passed since Iraq witnessed a popular movement stemming from the desire to bring about change in the country that suits the aspirations of all Iraqis.
This movement includes a lively discussion about the foundations of the state, how to administer it, and the rights of its people.
The reform path has taken off in the country, but it needs time and vigorous efforts to produce the desired results. The steps that we have taken in this path indicate the possibility of peaceful and constitutional change taking place away from violence, and this is what the Iraqis want.
In the midst of these circumstances, a new government was formed this year, headed by Mr. Mustafa Al-Kazimi, in response to the great popular movement demanding reform.
I can say, in light of the post-tyranny experience, that there is a growing recognition of the impossibility of continuing the status quo. Iraqis are looking forward to a new political contract that addresses the structural defect inherent in the post-2003 system of government, and guarantees them good governance.
In response to the popular will, the government has great responsibilities represented in its basic aspect, in carrying out structural political, economic and administrative reforms. This requires combating corruption and the corrupt, who constitute the other side of terrorism.
Among the primary tasks of the government is to work for early elections next year, fair and transparent, according to a new law and with fairer and comprehensive representation, in fulfillment of the national popular movement seeking to consolidate democracy and achieve the legitimate aspiration of Iraqis for a free and decent life, and for them to have authority and the supreme word in their country. And the government is emanating from them and looks after their interests and seeks to achieve their aspirations.
The government also finds that it is also required, according to this, to do another no less important action, which is confining weapons to the hands of the state and preventing its possession or use outside the framework of the law and state institutions, as well as investigating the murders of protesters and members of the security forces.
Confronting outlaw groups and controlling uncontrolled weapons is the state’s struggle with the forces of chaos and extremism. Certainly it is not an easy task, but it is a duty to investigate if we want societal peace for our country and if we want Iraq to be the master of itself.
The recent statement of the supreme religious authority, Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, issued after his Eminence received the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq, clearly expressed these tasks necessary to reform the course of the ongoing political process in the country and clean it up of corruption and weakness.
In this context, we look forward to the United Nations ’help to coordinate with the Electoral Commission and provide technical and supervisory support, to ensure the integrity of the elections, prevent manipulation, fraud and extortion and affect the individual’s freedom and electoral choice.
Our national project is to consolidate the capable state, able to enforce the law, and able to fulfill the rights of its citizens. We do not want Iraq to be an arena for conflicts and settling scores of others on its soil.
Iraq is sufficient for the wars, siege, terrorism and violation of sovereignty. An independent and sovereign Iraq will be a meeting point for the common interests of the peoples and countries of the region and the starting point for a regional system based on economic cooperation and common security in the face of terrorism and extremism.
We look forward to effective support from our neighbors and the international community for this national project, which will have major and influential repercussions on the future of Iraq, the region, and even the world.
In this context, Iraq affirms its position on the necessity of a solution to the Palestinian issue and the fulfillment of the rights of the Palestinian people in their independent state, and this is what helps in the stability of the region and the world.
I remember here our martyrs who sacrificed for freedom and in the face of terrorism, I salute our youth who prove every day their determination and solid will to achieve a free and decent life. Where we look with optimism towards the future through the aspiration and determination of our youth to complete the march of freedom, impose law, its rule, and achieve justice.
In conclusion, I repeat my appreciation to the United Nations on its 75th anniversary, so there is no alternative to this organization that brings us together despite our differences, especially as we face challenges that cross the official borders of countries, such as combating epidemics, climate change, and the need to ensure food security and deal with the migration and refugee file, all of this. I deal with it through the United Nations and its charter.
There is no doubt that the international system has failed times during the past seventy-five years. There are bitter experiences that we remember, such as the massacres of Rwanda and the woes, genocide, and massacres that happened in Iraq against Iraqis, in addition to the ongoing crisis in Syria and Libya .. We must learn from the lessons of the past, but At the same time, the sustainable development goals must be developed, and the United Nations reform agenda must be seriously pursued in order to advance the aspirations of the peoples of the world. ”
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