IRAQI PM KADHIMI CALLS FOR ‘NATIONAL DIALOGUE’ TO FINALIZE AGREEMENT BETWEEN ERBIL AND BAGHDAD

SULAIMANI — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Monday (March 8) called for “national dialogue” in order to achieve a breakthrough and seal a comprehensive agreement between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

The agreement would need to preserve “the unity of Iraqi territory and radically address the accumulated problems,” Kadhimi said in a speech reflecting on the lessons of Pope Francis’ recent visit to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

Relations between Baghdad and Erbil have been particularly tumultuous since 2014, with persistent disagreements over the budget, the KRG’s independent oil sales, the disputed areas, and the Region’s 2017 independence referendum.

The crisis of the moment is the impasse over the draft 2021 Federal Budget Law with negotiations characterized by low levels of trust on both sides.

Referencing the fraternal theme of the pope’s visit, the prime minister called for a renewed spirit of cooperation in solving the country’s challenges.

“We have lived together for more than six thousand years and we are still together,” he said. He also urged other countries “to banish the specter of wars, disagreements, and conflicts that will not serve our peoples.”

“The message of our people has reached all the peoples on the earth. We have suffered many wars and blood has spilled on our land.”

(NRT Digital Media)

Erbil announces that it has delivered all oil data to Baghdad: We are committed to transparency

Shafaq News / The Kurdistan Regional Government announced, on Saturday, that it had delivered all data on oil and non-oil revenues and expenditures, in addition to electronic data on the region’s employees.

Government spokesman Jotiar Adel said in Ward, to Shafaq News, that the Kurdistan Regional Government renews its commitment to all the duties that result from it and its belief in the transparency adopted by the work program of the ninth cabinet of the government.

He added that its affirmation of its obligations comes at a time when the issue of approving the general Iraqi budget has reached its final stages, after lengthy dialogues with all concerned parties.

Adel explained that the regional government provided the Finance Committee in the Iraqi parliament last December, with all the details related to oil revenues and expenditures, based on the audit and follow-up report carried out by the international “Deloitte” company.

He continued by saying that the regional government also sent figures related to non-oil revenues from the crossings and other areas, in addition to electronic data on the numbers of the region’s employees.

Adel affirmed the territorial government’s commitment to the principle of transparency, referring to the answers to all questions received from the Federal Ministries of Finance and Oil, as well as the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives.

And he expressed the regional government’s readiness to answer any other question related to this issue in order to clear the ambiguity that has an impact on the path of understanding and agreement between the two sides.

Last December, Baghdad and Erbil reached an agreement on the financial budget, stipulating that the region hand over 250 thousand barrels of oil per day, and half of the revenues from border crossings and others to the federal government, in exchange for a share in the budget of 12.6 percent.

The agreement was included in the draft budget, but political blocs in Parliament reject the agreement, which hinders its passage in Parliament.

Shafaq.com

Masrour Barzani welcomes Al-Kazemi’s invitation

Baghdad today – Kurdistan: Today, the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, welcomed Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi’s invitation to hold a national dialogue between the Iraqi parties.

Barzani said in a statement, “In the name of the Kurdistan Regional Government, I welcome and support the invitation of the Federal Prime Minister, Mr. Mustafa Al-Kazemi, for a national dialogue between the Iraqi parties to fundamentally solve all problems and conflicts.”

He added, “We also express our readiness to reach a comprehensive and final agreement to solve all problems between the federal government and the Kurdistan region on the basis of the constitution.”

In his speech, broadcast on state television, at twelve o’clock this afternoon, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi said that the message of Pope Francis’s visit to Iraq reached the whole world, while calling on all political forces participating in the political process and opposing his government to dialogue. A comprehensive national, that guarantees the right of Iraq to maintain its security and stability.

Alrafidain.news

A deputy in the regional parliament commenting on yesterday’s message: We will continue negotiating with Baghdad until the last moment

Baghdad today – Kurdistan: A member of the Kurdistan Parliament’s Finance Committee, Bahjat Ali, confirmed that the last message sent by the regional government yesterday, Saturday, will not be the last, while indicating that Kurdistan will continue negotiations with Baghdad until the last moment, to end the dispute over the budget law for 2021.

In an interview with (Baghdad Today), Bahjat Ali said, “The region will continue its negotiations with Baghdad until the last moment, in order to obtain the rights of our citizens,” noting that “the last message was a new commitment and commitment from Kurdistan.”

Ali added, “The decision is not in the region’s hands. We have made all our commitments and pledges, but the problem lies with the political blocs, and we cannot agree to the conditions of unconstitutional political forces, and it is not possible to deliver the entire oil, because there are financial and legal obligations and obligations before our people and our citizens.”

And a member of the Finance Committee in the Kurdistan Parliament expressed his hope that “the political blocs will respond to this message, and then a new delegation from the regional government will go to Baghdad again, before the budget is presented to vote in Parliament.”

Yesterday, Saturday, the spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government, Gutiar Adel, announced that his government submitted a proposal to the federal government and the Iraqi parliament to end the dispute over the budget law for the year 2021.

In a statement received (Baghdad Today), Adel said, “The government has delivered all data and statistics related to revenues and expenditures, both oil and non-oil, and the biometric registration of employees to Baghdad,” stressing that “commitment to the principle of transparency and willingness to provide any clarification to remove the problems that may hinder the agreement between the two sides.” “.

The statement added, “The approval of the Iraqi budget bill for 2021 in its final stages and after conducting many discussions with all concerned parties, the Kurdistan Regional Government affirms its commitment to all its duties and its belief in the principle of transparency as stated in the work program of the ninth government cabinet.”

And that “the Kurdistan Regional Government reviewed the Finance Committee in the Iraqi Council of Representatives, through the book No. (7 – special), on 1-2-2021, on all the details related to the process, revenues and oil expenditures (based on the audit report of Deloitte International), in addition to Sending statistics related to non-oil revenues and border crossings and their revenues, depending on the annual financial statement of the Ministry of Finance and Economy in the region, not to mention sending tables of numbers and information for Kurdistan Region employees according to the biometric registration system.

He stressed that “the Kurdistan Regional Government always affirms its commitment to the principle of transparency to disclose oil and non-oil revenues to the public opinion and the federal government, and has so far responded accurately and in official letters to all inquiries and questions of the Iraqi ministries of finance and oil, as well as the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives.”

“At the same time, the region expresses once again its readiness to clarify any inquiries in this regard, in order to dispel all ambiguities and problems that may cast a shadow on the path of understanding and agreement between the two sides,” he concluded.

Baghdadtoday.news

The British Ambassador: Iraq will witness a great openness to the world

Baghdad / Obelisk: The British Ambassador to Iraq, Stephen Hickey, said Saturday, March 6, 2021, that Iraq will witness a great openness to the world.

Hickey said in a press statement, that he is “very happy with the visit of Pope Francis, to Iraq,” noting that “this visit represents an important symbol of peaceful and pluralistic coexistence in Iraq.”

He added, “The whole world is now focusing on Iraq, because the Pope is an important symbol for the whole world,” noting that “we will witness the opening of Iraq to the world in a big way.”

Almasalah.com

Member of Parliament: Parliamentary signatures submitted to restore the dollar’s ​​exchange rate

Baghdad today – Member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Jamal Cougar, confirmed today, Sunday (07 March 2021), that the political movement is still continuing within the House of Representatives, with the presence of parliamentary signatures submitted to the Parliament in order to restore the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar or reduce the current price.

Cougar said in an interview with (Baghdad Today), “The political movement in this regard is still going on, even there are requests that have been submitted with the signatures of a large number of members of Parliament to the Parliament for the exchange rate of the dollar.”

He added, “Those signatures remained unchanged, because the Finance Committee and Parliament do not have any authority to amend or return the exchange rate of the dollar,” stressing that “this matter is exclusively within the authority of the Central Bank.”

“It is difficult for the government to go in this direction, because changing the exchange rate or returning it to its previous price needs to be reformulated again,” he said.

Last Thursday, the representative of the Saeron Alliance, Riyad Al-Masoudi, confirmed that the Finance Committee in Parliament said that adjusting the exchange rate of the dollar must be done through a request submitted by Parliament to the Iraqi government .

Al-Masoudi said, in an interview with (Baghdad Today), that “the monetary policy, fiscal policy and economic policy are set by the Iraqi government in accordance with the Iraqi constitution,” indicating that “the invitation of the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hassan Al-Kaabi, for a parliamentary stand in order to reduce the exchange rate of the dollar, came after an intervention To MP Anaam Al-Khuzaie, it came within this context, and the session was not devoted to discussing the budget or the exchange rate of the dollar.

And that “Al-Kaabi stressed the need for the political forces to meet, on the issue of reviewing the exchange rate of the dollar, and this claim cannot be made individually from a deputy or a concerned bloc.”

He added that “there must be a request from the Iraqi Parliament, through the Finance Committee of the Iraqi government, to reconsider the issue of the dollar exchange rate, especially since the Finance Committee has representation from all political forces.” The dollar exchange will submit the request. ”

First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hassan Al Kaabi, called for a representative pause to return to the previous dollar exchange rate .

Al-Kaabi said, according to an official statement during a session on Wednesday, that “the increase in the exchange rate of the dollar has a negative impact on the Iraqi citizen’s life, and for economic stability in general .

He added, “There is a need for a serious and urgent pause for all members of the House of Representatives and the Parliamentary Finance Committee to return to the previous exchange rate .”

In response to the parliamentary calls to amend the exchange rate, Finance Minister Ali Allawi said in a press interview that “the dollar exchange rate is a governmental decision that cannot be changed daily as desired,” indicating that “the markets have accepted the current exchange rate and will give incentives over the coming years to the private sector and strengthen the reserves. His expression .

The increase in the exchange rate caused an increase in the prices of imported goods, while members of the Parliamentary Finance Committee confirmed that raising it to 1,450 dinars against the dollar had harmed citizens twice, first because it reduced the value of their salaries and also because it raised the prices of goods in the market .

Baghdadtoday.news

Representative economic: the conditions are ready to adjust the exchange rate and the oil barrel in the budget

Baghdad Today – A member of the Parliamentary Economic and Investment Committee, Mazen Al-Faili, confirmed today, Friday, that the conditions are ready to adjust the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar, as well as the price of a barrel of oil in the draft Federal Budget Law for 2021 .

In an interview with (Baghdad Today), Al-Faily said, “The conditions are in place to restore or reduce the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar in the draft budget, but it is difficult to achieve this in light of the completion of the draft formulation, discussion and study in the Parliamentary Finance Committee, therefore we need to reformulate The project and this is not possible. ”

He added that “there is a tendency to raise the price of a barrel of oil in the draft budget law, in view of the high prices in the global markets,” stressing that “the current price contributed to the availability of large financial revenues for the state.”

The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hassan Al-Kaabi, had called on the Ministry of Finance to amend the exchange rate of the dollar, because citizens were affected by the current price.

Baghdadtoday.news

Parliament votes on 18 articles of the Federal Court bill

On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted on 18 articles of the Federal Court bill.
A parliamentary source said in an interview with Alsumaria News, “The House of Representatives voted by a two-thirds majority on 18 articles out of 24 articles in the draft Federal Supreme Court bill.”

The source added that “the House of Representatives voted by a two-thirds majority on the (compelling reasons) of the draft law of the Federal Supreme Court.”

Alsumaria.tv

Iraq tackles Corruption in Currency Auctions

The Iraqi Cabinet held its weekly meeting on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.

Addressing the meeting, the Prime Minister said the reserves of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) have increased by $4 billion, adding that the government has been able to tackle what it describes as “the corruption at the notorious foreign currency auction”.

The Prime Minister directed all ministers not to repeat the mistakes of previous governments, and not to let bureaucratic practices impede the implementation of strategic decisions.

(Source: Govt of Iraq)

Iraq-businessnews.com

Parliamentary law ends discussion of the Federal Court law

Baghdad today: The Media Department of the House of Representatives announced Thursday, the completion of the discussion of the Federal Court Law, which is scheduled to vote on in today’s session.

The department said in a statement received (Baghdad today), “The Legal Committee held a meeting headed by Deputy Rebwar Hadi, Chairman of the Committee, and the attendance of its members to discuss the draft law of the Federal Court.”

She added, “At the beginning of the meeting, the head of the Legal Committee stressed the necessity of resolving discussions on the draft law so that it could be included on the agenda of the House of Representatives session to vote on it.”

The statement continued, “The committee has finished reading and discussing the articles and clauses of the Federal Court bill,” indicating that “regarding the controversial articles, the committee decided to present it to the House of Representatives so that it would have the final word on it.”

Baghdadtoday.news