Iraqiya may boycott national conference preparatory meetings

12/03/2012 13:17

BAGHDAD, March 12 (AKnews) - The Iraqiya Coalition has hinted that it may withdraw from attending the preparatory meetings for the upcoming national conference if the terms of the Erbil agreement are not implemented.

Coalition member MP Talal al-Zobaie told AKnews that applying the terms of the Erbil agreement is a basic requirement for Iraqiya to attend the national conference, where the convention must be adopted to resolve the crises that beset the country.

"If the demands aren't implemented, Iraqiya will discuss the Iraqi issue as a whole at the table of the Arab summit conference and will seek to internationalize it through relevant international organizations... to reveal the attempts to marginalize and exclude an important political component which is Iraqiya List," said Zobaie.

The agreement proposed by Kurdistan Regional President Massoud Barzani ended a nine-month dispute over who should run the government following March 2010's elections. The deal, which was signed by all the major political party leaders in Erbil, reinstated Nouri al-Maliki for the second successive term.

Maliki's elections rival, Ayad Allawi, whose Iraqiya List won the elections, was promised a National Council for Strategic Policies in return for his concession over the PM post. The council was not formed and the PM's State of Law Coalition and Iraqiya began incriminating and accusing each other of violating the Erbil pact.

The National Coalition announced yesterday plans to hold a meeting for the preparatory committee of the national conference today at the home of Iraqi Vice President Khudair al-Khuzaei to discuss the agenda of the conference.

The preparatory committee has held four meetings so far and described the atmosphere as positive. The committee discussed the most controversial issues but it failed to agree on mechanisms to resolve these problems.

Iraqi politicians are trying to resolve their differences to reach a unified position before the Arab summit in Baghdad on March 29.

Iraq has witnessed a political crisis since the issuance of an arrest warrant against Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi and the demand of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for the Council of Representatives to dismiss the PM's deputy, Saleh al-Mutlaq.

The State of Law Coalition, led by PM Maliki, refuses to discuss the issues of Mutlaq and Hashemi at the national conference but Iraqiya, led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, insists that such discussion should take place at the event.

https://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/4/295389/