Parliament votes on bills and raise its 14 th to Monday
22-08-2013 | (Voice of Iraq)
Range Press / Baghdad
I decided Presidency of the Council of Representatives, on Thursday, the adjournment of the 14 of the legislative term of the first legislative year fourth to next Monday, while the session saw the vote on the two bills and postpone Altsopt on the Law of the Federal service and the formation of a committee to look into suspicions of financial and administrative corruption in the province of Salah
A source in the information department of the Council of Representatives in an interview to (range ČÓ), "The House Speaker Osama Najafi decided to adjourn the meeting of the 14 of the legislative term of the first year's legislative fourth to be held next Monday," noting that "The session saw the vote on the bill ratification of the Convention between the Government of the Republic of Iraq and the Government of the State of Kuwait on the organization of maritime navigation in the Khawr Abd Allah. "
Maliki's coalition supports the application of the system of Saint Lego election in the upcoming parliamentary elections
22-08-2013 | (Voice of Iraq)
Range Press / Baghdad
Cdaútlav state law, led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said Thursday its support for a system of "Saint Lego" in the upcoming parliamentary elections, and while noting that "the system Havandk" electoral serves large blocs rather small, stressed that Saint Lego does not satisfy the desire of the Iraqi citizen, but he " better. "
The MP said the coalition of state law Ahmed Abbasi during a press conference and attended the parliament building (Press-term), "The large blocs of the House of Representatives want choose Havandk system in the upcoming elections."
Abbasi added that "this system serves the large blocs, not small," noting that "Saint Lego system that follow in the last election did not meet the desire of the Iraqi citizen, but it's better than system Havandk".
The Ktlta National Alliance and the Iraqi Council of Representatives, declared a Monday July 8, 2013, for submitting proposals to the Presidency of the Council of Representatives to amend the law on parliamentary elections, and confirmed that the most prominent of the adoption of the circuit multiple open list and the distribution of seats among the lists by what I got every list of the votes, while She noted that the aim of the proposals is to prevent the "Feedback" reaction was "injustice and marginalization."
And warned the Liberal bloc of the Sadrist movement, in (20 June 2013), the religious and civic organizations and political blocs of "the existence of a conspiracy led political bloc influential in government", and showed that the conspiracy aimed at "re-closed-list system in the parliamentary elections," and threatened to "expose" this block for a nearby stand against the project, while strongly criticized the deputy to "adopt the abolition of pensions for parliamentarians in front of the media," and promised "election propaganda."
This means closed list system that provides political entity list Bmarchah and after ratification by the UNHCR and the end of the deadline for electoral lists and the coalition can not be political entity to change the order of names on the list and announce the winners of the candidates on the list according to the number of votes obtained by the entity and in numerical order contained down menu.
Specialists believe that the ordinary voter to vote for the electoral list he does not know the members of this list, because this is the electoral system does not allow voters to choose no other name from the list pursuant to the free choice (open menu).
By: Mustafa al-Kadhimi for Al-Monitor Iraq Pulse Posted on August 22.
Despite 10 years of experience in rule, the political process in Iraq has not resulted in an agreement between political partners. While the parties participating in the government insist on having a hand in the process of making and taking decisions, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki insists on accusing his partners of trying to obstruct his decisions. Accusations of monopolizing power and responses to these accusations — after the failure of the politically fragile Erbil Agreement — led to ongoing political and security disturbances. This prevented the government from making significant gains in terms of the provision of services and improving the security situation and other state functions.
Summary :
As the security situation continues to deteriorate, Iraqi political groups must reconcile and work together to ensure all players have a say in the decision-making process.
Original Title:
Reconciliation and the Decision-Making Process in Iraq
Author: Mustafa al-Kadhimi
Posted on: August 22 2013
Translated by: Tyler Huffman
Categories : Originals Iraq
It seems that granting authority with regard to decision-making to the winner of the elections and putting the other parties in the position of the opposition is not suitable for the current period Iraq is in. The country’s worrisome situation — given the absence of a stable state and effective, professional institutions — has imposed a consensual system, rather than a system characterized by a dual role comprising the government and the opposition. Everyone must be involved in the process of taking fateful decisions for the country, especially with regard to addressing the security breakdown.
In light of the constant deterioration of the security situation in the country, on June 1, the head of the Supreme Islamic Council, Ammar al-Hakim, called for a round-table discussion of faction leaders to address the country's challenges. He also called for a national conference bringing together all of the political forces to address issues related to governance and developing lasting solutions to the series of crises that are constantly encountered.
None of these initiatives succeeded, since the responses of the Maliki-led State of Law Coalition were not positive or welcoming.
As security challenges persisted and the State of Law Coalition continued to face criticism regarding its failure at state administration, a new initiative was launched by State of Law Coalition member and Iraqi Vice President Khodair al-Khozaei. This initiative was called the "social peace initiative" and was welcomed by all political parties, including the Union of Kurdistan; the Citizen Bloc, affiliated with the Supreme Islamic Council; and the Ahrar Bloc, affiliated with the Sadrist movement. These parties were optimistic that this initiative would be successful, unlike its predecessors, which failed to realize any of their objectives. Furthermore, it seems that the upcoming elections play an active role in bringing together the political parties, which are trying to realize achievements in the remaining period, to make gains in the electoral race.
Amid the current difficult circumstances, it seems that taking serious steps toward collective decision-making totally depends on the extent of faith and commitment the political class — especially the Shiite alliance, which represents the majority of the country — has to the logic of partnership in government.
Mustafa al-Kadhimi is an Iraqi writer specializing in defense of democracy. He has extensive experience in documenting testimony and archiving documentaries associated with repressive practices.
Who Are We?
Iraq Struggles With Its National Identity
By: Harith Hasan for Al-Monitor Iraq Pulse Posted on August 22.
Iraqi Minister of Higher Education Ali al-Adeeb, who's also a leading member of the Islamic Dawa Party, took part in a frank television interview with the Al Baghdadia channel Aug 22
Summary :
Iraq is struggling to establish a modernized national identity, a problem which is most readily apparent in debates over public school and university curricula.
Original Title:
School Curricula and the Iraqi Identity Crisis
Author: Harith Hasan
Posted on: August 22 2013
Translated by: Kamal Fayad
Categories : Originals Iraq
Among the questions asked of him pertained to the lack of focus on Iraq’s pre-Muslim history in school and university curricula. It's interesting because this time period is not the subject of dispute. It reflects Iraq’s unique civilization and identity, and may, in fact, be an adequate substitute for the subject of the country’s Muslim history, which is rife with sectarian and religious divisions and disagreements. In his answer, Adeeb did not seem enthused by the proposition, affirming instead that the correct alternative lay in teaching Islam in an open and unprejudiced manner that accepts not one but all interpretations of Islam and Muslim history. The minister’s answer did not come as a surprise considering his Islamic background as one of the few Iraqi politicians who has given the issue personal attention. He even published a book this year about humanities curricula in schools and universities.
In his book titled Humanities Curricula, Adeeb reaffirmed that one of the flaws found in the curricula adopted in the preceding Iraqi era was that its sole religious focus was limited to “presenting a solitary interpretation, to the exclusion of others. One voice was heard, while all others were left out completely.” As for history books, Adeeb said that they lacked “alternate views of historical events,” and did not recognize the existence of “others.” It is clear that the minister’s criticism is particularly directed at the manner by which school curricula were established during the rule of the Baath Party, whose main focus was to instill ideologies that revolved around pan-Arab nationalism, and whose interpretation of religion and history was Sunni-biased.
Adeeb added that the Baath Party invalidated “all naturally occurring identities, among which of course was the identity of Iraq itself. Meanwhile, it maintained and forcefully imposed the identity of the Baath Party upon all Iraqis.” To overcome this exclusionary legacy, Adeeb stressed the need to allow students access to more than one account about history and religion, without damaging “basic national principles.”
The debate about the relationship between identity and school curricula is not new to Iraq. It is as old as the Iraqi state. Since the issue of identity has always been at the core of the process to build the Iraqi nation, it is only natural that the matter of school curricula evolve into a contentious political one. The country’s prevailing sociopolitical conflict has mainly revolved around defining what it means to be Iraqi and its relations with other identities: Arab, Kurdish, Islamic, Sunni and Shiite.
One of the most famous controversies relating to this subject saw Sati al-Husri, who was in charge of education and curricula during the 1930s, disagreeing with a US committee that visited Iraq to assess the country’s school curricula of the time. The committee concluded that Iraqi school curricula were highly centralized, static, did not take into consideration social needs as well as were ignorant of social diversity and local specificities. These remarks did not sit well with Husri who had nationalist tendencies and wanted to use curricula to instill secular pan-Arab nationalist ideologies in students. Husri also believed that school curricula were an important means by which “to spread nationalist sentiments and faith in the unity of the Arab nation.” He was therefore of the opinion that concentrating on local and cultural specificities would not serve his integrative nationalist agenda.
As a result, since that date, teaching curricula in Iraq have been dominated by Husri’s school of thought, which reached its apogee during the Baath Party’s rule. From here stems Adeeb’s criticism of these curricula and his calls for the adoption of a new philosophy built upon “pluralism without negating the role of religion.”
There are two major problems, however, in this regard. First, the difficulty of establishing a pluralistic curriculum, which encompasses religious and historical issues that, themselves, are part and parcel of the ideological conflict that rages between Shiites and Sunnis, while, at the same time, emphasizing national unity. Second is the difficulty of completing such a task at a time when Iraq is the victim of a sharp sectarian conflict replete with religious, historical and mythological symbols that are used for sectarian mobilization.
Since 2003, this problem has emerged as one of the most contentious issues, around which revolved many accusations and suspicions. For since the Islamic-Shiite leadership figure, Khodair al-Khozaei, assumed the reigns at the Ministry of Education, Sunnis have objected to his attempts aimed at spreading “Shiism” and “to change Iraq’s history.”
Adeeb has endured similar critiques, among them accusations that he is sponsoring an ideological cleansing operation being undertaken in Iraqi universities, particularly through his strict commitment to de-Baathification.
Some Sunni accusations have even reached the point of inferring the presence of coordination with Iran to rewrite school curricula. This, in turn, compelled the Ministry of Higher Education to issue a statement denying the accusations.
Furthermore, some objections have arisen about history books lacking any reference to important eras and events that occurred in Iraqi history, particularly during the Baath Party’s rule, and the Iraq-Iran war, which many Sunnis still believe was a just national war.
In contrast, the Shiites are also not content because they feel that the curricula were not changed enough. Some movements within the Shiite religious establishment have voiced their opinion that curricula must be completely changed to break away from the Baath era, and that Shiites have the right to teach their community’s ideologies, which the former regime had repressed.
There are also objections about the continued use of Baathist terminologies and concepts in school books, especially their focus on Iraq being part of the “Arab homeland,” instead of viewing it as a country with its own distinct identity.
Yet, amid the torrent of accusations and suspicions, the school curricula department at the Ministry of Education continued — in cooperation with UNESCO — to strive toward changing the curricula, promising to complete the process next year.
However, it remains clear that the important thorny questions pertaining to the subject of identity and sectarian conflict remain open. Curricula still lack a clear direction in dealing with contentious issues and events, which, most of the time, have been ignored — such as the Baath Party rule after 1968 and the US occupation and its aftermath. That is to be expected considering that the Iraqi parliament has so far failed to adopt a new flag and national anthem, despite all the proposals in this regard.
The 1930s dispute between Husri and the US committee remains unresolved, because it is tied to a broader political debate about which curricula must be used to build the Iraqi nation. The dispute though has grown more complex, because the debate is no longer a purely intellectual one but one having to do with contrasting narratives pertaining to the definitions of identity and the Iraqi nation.
Harith Hasan is an Iraqi scholar and the author of Imagining the Nation: Nationalism, Sectarianism and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq. On Twitter: @harith_hasan
By: Ali Mamouri for Al-Monitor Iraq Pulse Posted on August 22.
One of the paradoxes characterizing Iraq is that while the religious authority in Najaf has not called for religious governance and has even strongly opposed it — something that is historically rare — the religiously-oriented Iraqi government has been resorting to religious slogans and demands to cover up its failure in governance.
Summary :
Though influential, Iraqi politicians claim Najaf religious scholars have no right to influence the state of affairs in the country.
Original Title:
The Iraqi Government and Its Disagreements With the Najaf Authorities
Author: Ali Mamouri
Posted on: August 22 2013
Translated by: Sahar Ghoussoub
Categories : Originals Iraq
Each time the religious authority in Najaf demands that the government work on achieving the civil demands of citizens, it is met with offensive criticism or inattention by government figures.
Ever since the start of the political process in Iraq after 2003, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the highest-ranking Shiite cleric in Najaf, has declared more than once that he demands a civil state be established in Iraq and that he is against the involvement of religion and clergy in the political sphere. Therefore, he has not allowed any of his affiliates to be engaged in the political process, either directly or indirectly. Sistani has not been biased toward any political party. He merely offered advice to the government, urging it to assume its civil responsibilities toward citizens.
In a recent statement by government figures against the religious authority in Najaf, Izzat Shahbandar, a prominent member of the State of Law Coalition, said that the Najaf authority does not have any power to criticize the government’s work and object to its failure in management. He added that there is a need to put an end to all those speakers who are trying to tarnish the Iraqi government’s reputation.
When he was faced with widespread criticism, Shahbandar replied that he is not the only one to criticize the authority in Najaf, and that many of the coalition’s members share the same opinion but do not openly declare it. It should be noted that two years ago, Sistani refused to receive any government figures, expressing his outrage and dissatisfaction with their unsuccessful performance in the government.
Sistani’s official representatives in Karbala, Ahmed al-Safi and Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalai, revealed Sistani’s vision of the general situation in the country.
On Aug. 4, Safi criticized the deteriorating security situation in the country and the poor social services offered to citizens, demanding the Iraqi government to show some sense of nationalism and responsibility.
Karbalai said in July 2013 that the operation that freed detainees from the Taji and Abu Ghraib prisons is a “scandal,” urging the government to take effective measures to control the overall situation in the country.
Previously, during demonstrations in Sunni areas in Iraq, Sistani demanded that the Iraqi government positively address the demonstrators’ demands, warning against the use of violence. Sistani’s office also prevented the Iraqi government from dissolving parliament and holding early elections, as this would alienate Sunnis and pave the way for several hardliners of all stripes to enter parliament.
Moreover, Sistani’s representative Sheikh Hussein al-Yassin expressed his dissatisfaction with the government’s use of religious slogans in the public domain, saying that the government belongs to all Iraqis and not to one specific sect or doctrine.
Rachid al-Husseini, one of Najaf’s scholars, said that the government has been issuing threats to counter the religious authority’s legitimate criticism. It is trying to interfere in religious affairs by creating pro-government religious authorities that would support its partisan and factional interests.
In the same vein, a source close to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told Al-Monitor that he has been following up on Friday sermons in Karbala with discontent. He added that he intends to arrest Safi and Karbalai, if necessary, as he considers them to be government employees affiliated with the religious endowment or waqf. He also said that the Islamic Dawa Party, to which the prime minister belongs, has been supporting journalists and websites seeking to make propaganda against Sistani’s representatives.
Amid this bitter dispute between the government and the religious authority in Iraq and the public discontent with the current status quo, it seems that the State of Law Coalition is unlikely to win the confidence of the Iraqi street in upcoming elections.
Ali Mamouri is a researcher and writer who specializes in religion. He is a former teacher in Iranian universities and seminaries in Iran and Iraq. He has published several articles related to religious affairs in the two countries and societal transformations and sectarianism in the Middle East.
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