Abdul-Mahdi: We will issue a list of the top corrupt in the coming hours

Abdul-Mahdi: We will issue a list of the top corrupt in the coming hours

Almirbad.com

Urgent Abdul Mahdi addresses the Iraqi people this evening

Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi will address the Iraqi people this evening.
“The president will address the Iraqi people this evening,” Abdul Mahdi’s media office said in a statement received by the Euphrates News.

Alforatnews.com

How to Save Iraq

The prime minister has improved relations with the Sunni minority and the Kurds. But he can’t meet the demands of the protesters without fixing the economy.

Iraqis have had enough. After years of poor governance, the Iraqi people have run out of patience with the failures of their governing elites to deliver basic services or to reduce unemployment and corruption. Tens of thousands have come out in protests in Baghdad and parts of southern Iraq since last week. More than 100 protesters have been killed and thousands have been injured by security forces. Broadcasting stations have been attacked and social media platforms and the internet have been blocked.

The scale and magnitude of the protests is unprecedented, as is the violent reaction from the Iraqi government. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has failed to prevent Iraq’s worst crisis since the Islamic State seized Mosul in 2014. He must take responsibility and ensure that the officials responsible for the large scale killings of protesters are prosecuted.

The crisis places Mr. Abdul Mahdi in a precarious position. Protesters want jobs and services, accountability and, in some cases, a complete overhaul of the Iraqi political class. The prime minister has failed to offer concessions — an increase in salaries, a basic wage for poorer families and interest-free housing credit programs — that could placate them. In a televised address, Mr. Abdul Mahdi expressed willingness to respond to the “rightful demands” of the protesters but warned that there was no “magic solution” to Iraq’s problems.

Mr. Abdul Mahdi, an independent politician who has been the finance minister and vice president, deserves a chance to pull Iraq out of this crisis and move forward. He is a veteran Shiite politician known for his conciliatory tone and personality, who shuns the dogmatism and authoritarianism of his predecessors.

He came to office in October 2018 as a compromise candidate after Iraq’s leading rival political parties came together in a coalition government and nominated him. For the first time in 13 years, Iraq has a prime minister who does not have a legacy of alienating members of his own coalition government and marginalizing large sections of the population, particularly Iraq’s Sunni community, whose marginalization and grievances enabled the Islamic State.

That should be made to count. Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, one of the most prominent officials from the Sunni community, told me in Baghdad recently that he no longer envisages sectarian issues as being the paramount challenge for the country. “Iraq’s main challenges will be external and economic from now on,” he explained.

Mr. Abdul Mahdi’s premiership has secured the inclusion of Sunnis in the government and fostered a sense that their long-ignored demands for greater political participation are being met.

He has also improved Baghdad’s relationship with the Kurds, who took part in the elections and helped secure Mr. Abdul Mahdi’s prime ministerial job. They are fully vested members of the Baghdad government and hold multiple ministerial posts.

Kurdish leaders were barely on speaking terms with Iraq’s previous two prime ministers; they held a referendum for independence in 2017. But the Kurdish leaders had fought against Saddam Hussein alongside Mr. Abdul Mahdi, who at the time was a senior member of the Iraqi opposition. “He understands us and our people,” an adviser to Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of the semiautonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq, told me.

But despite winning some social peace, a youth bulge, sagging growth rates and economic pressure could result in the country’s next implosion, as the protests have indicated. Iraq has a population of more than 30 million, which is expected to reach 50 million in a decade. More than 60 percent of Iraqis are under 24, and 700,000 require jobs every year. Iraq lacks the infrastructure, sustainable governance and private sector to meet the needs of its population.

Mr. Abdul Mahdi, who has a reputation for being more about substance, has already signed agreements with Germany to upgrade Iraq’s electricity infrastructure and has developed Iraq’s economic ties with its neighbors.

But the challenges he faces are daunting. Iraq’s water resources have reduced by 30 percent since the 1980s and the water supply faces a reduction of up to 60 percent by 2025, which has dire implications for food production and electricity.

Iraq’s economy is largely dependent on oil, which provides around 85 percent of government revenue. But 70 percent of its budget goes toward paying civil servants. The World Bank has estimated that productivity per Iraqi civil servant is an embarrassing 17 minutes per day, while Iraqi officials suggest it is around 15 minutes.

Iraq once boasted of an excellent educational system, but it remains neglected and poorly funded. The education, reconstruction and health sectors receive around 8 percent of the budget. Millions of Iraqi children do not attend school or are destined to perpetual unemployment. Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim, a revered religious and political figure, has rebuilt his movement around the young by allowing them greater opportunities for political participation. “There is no point discussing Iraq’s future and the state unless we begin with the youth,” Mr. al-Hakim told me in Baghdad.

Iraq needs help. Western governments remain too focused on a potential conflagration that could result from a war between Washington and Tehran on Iraqi soil, without a strategy for reinforcing Iraq’s sovereignty. The harsh truth for the United States is that Baghdad is too dependent on Tehran and cannot manage without Iranian natural gas and other products that meet its day-to-day needs. Iraq’s annual trade with Iran is $12 billion while American exports to Iraq are a mere $1.3 billion.

Washington can help reduce this dependence and reinforce Iraqi sovereignty by enabling Baghdad to build stronger relations with countries that can provide alternatives. This can take the form of a road map to energy independence involving facilitating strategic dialogues on shared energy grids and new pipeline connections with the Gulf states and Jordan.

The United States needs to increase its financial and technical investments in Iraq and leverage its global reach to mobilize international investors, which would prop up the economy and fund reconstruction projects. American technology giants and industry leaders should embrace Iraq’s burgeoning start-up movement and a new generation of leaders who are not yet absorbed into patronage networks.

Co-working spaces like The Station have helped establish a tech ecosystem that with the right investment can become an industrial powerhouse. An entrepreneurial, mercantile ethos runs deep in Iraqi society — but it is suppressed by the public sector, dependency on oil, red tape and patronage networks.

While protesters have called for the downfall of the ruling class — and even for Prime Minister Abdul Mahdi to resign — the way forward is not a new government and a new prime minister, and the dangerous political uncertainty that brings. Instead it is a concerted effort to improve governance and to work for the economic regeneration of Iraq.

Ranj Alaaldin is a fellow at the Brookings Doha Center. He directs a study on exiting proxy wars in the Middle East for the Carnegie Corporation.

Nytimes.com

Against the backdrop of protests against corruption .. Abdul Mahdi pledges to reshuffle

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Wednesday he would ask parliament to approve a cabinet reshuffle at its scheduled session on Thursday.

Abdul Mahdi said in a speech on Wednesday in Baghdad that a new list of ministers will be submitted to parliament next week for approval.

The move comes after a week of protests in Baghdad and southern provinces demanding the dismissal of the government and the fight against corruption and change the political system in the country.

Iraqakhbar.com

U.S.’s Pompeo urges Iraq’s prime minister to tackle protesters´ grievances

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to “exercise maximum restraint” and “address protesters’ grievances” after more than 100 people were killed in recent demonstrations, the State Department said on Tuesday.

“The secretary lamented the tragic loss of life over the past few days and urged the Iraqi government to exercise maximum restraint,” the department said in a statement.

Pompeo encouraged Abdul Mahdi “to take immediate steps to address the protesters’ grievances by enacting reforms and tackling corruption,” it said.

The U.S. statement said Pompeo and Abdul Mahdi spoke “recently.” (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Dailymail.co.uk

Source: 7 ministries covered by an amendment package that Abdul Mahdi is working on

Baghdad / Al-Ghad Press: A political source announced on Tuesday a wide-ranging package of reforms and reforms in the government, which is being matured by Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.The source told “Tomorrow Press,” that “Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi is working to mature a wide reform package in his government, including a reshuffle will include seven ministries in addition to a number of bodies.”He added that “the Council of Ministers will issue at today’s meeting important decisions related to meeting the demands of the demonstrators.”

Alghadpress.com

As Protests Explode, Iraq Must Get Serious About Reform

The public’s demands are just and their patience is all but gone, so Baghdad needs to get on with the hard work of opening up the economy and providing critical services before the violence spirals out of control.

While Washington focuses on getting Baghdad to rein in militias and end its dependency on Iranian energy, Iraqi citizens have been seething about other matters. Fueled by anger at the government’s rampant corruption and failure to deliver services or jobs, a series of spontaneous, leaderless protests erupted in Baghdad on October 1 and spread to a number of towns in central and southern Iraq. Initially nonviolent, the demonstrations quickly drew lethal fire from security forces, which only enraged the protestors and increased their numbers. By week’s end, casualties had reached sixty-five dead and over a thousand wounded, including security personnel. The government crackdown also included an Internet blackout and curfews, which protestors promptly defied. The unrest could escalate further unless Baghdad presents credible pathways to providing employment and cleaning up corruption, areas that the United States can help with.

SYSTEM FAILURE
Iraq seemingly cannot deliver good governance. With post-Saddam leaders putting a premium on ethnosectarian representation and leaving state institutions to wither, the government has become a fractured entity with as many as 263 registered political parties. Its revenue-sharing/patronage system is too rife with abuses to drive effective economic policy, creating a vicious cycle: parties who made it into government via early elections have used their power to grant jobs and contracts to their supporters, aiming to secure votes in the next election. Meanwhile, wealth remains concentrated within the government—Iraq’s sole major export is oil, which accounts for 92 percent of the budget.

Such a system, while good at doling out transactional perks to party elites, has failed to provide the rest of the population with services, infrastructure, or jobs. Take the 2019 budget of $111.8 billion, which represents a 45 percent increase over 2018—more than half of it will go to public wages and pensions, eating away at the non-oil investment spending needed to develop a private sector. After a parade of such governments since 2003, the system seems to have run its course. There are only so many government jobs, and Iraq’s public sector is already among the world’s most bloated. Hence the bleak cry of one protestor this week: “We don’t want parties, we want a country to live in.”

Iraq’s democratic system may be failing as well. Many citizens believe that the isolated political elites are rigging the electoral system to stay in power, using their media outlets, business interests, and foreign connections to ensure their indistinguishable candidates keep winning. One poll indicated that only one in five Iraqis believe their country is still a democracy. As a result, voter turnout has steadily decreased, from 80 percent in 2005 to 44.5 percent in 2018, while protests have become seasonal affairs.

The latest outburst of public outrage was also triggered by the nationalist sentiment that has grown since the defeat of the Islamic State. The younger post-Saddam generation is proud of the army’s victory over the terrorists and the subsequent return of calm to most cities. Thus, when Prime Minister Adil Abdulmahdi announced earlier this week that he had removed the war’s most popular military figure, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, this sentiment boiled over. A fearless commander who spearheaded the battle for Mosul’s liberation and stayed on to help lead the elite Counter Terrorism Service, Saadi is the epitome of Iraqi national pride: he is Shia, but popular with Sunnis, and he rose through the ranks without relying on political patronage. His demotion brought all of the public’s simmering anger about the rigged system to the surface.

In addition, the younger, web-connected generation knows that it makes little sense for such a rich country to have so many poor people, shabby roads, dilapidated hospitals, and broken schools. Thus, when security personnel use water cannons to forcibly disperse a peaceful protest by jobseekers with graduate degrees, the resultant rage is hardly surprising. Many are also uneasy about the rise of certain militias within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which played a laudable role in saving the country from the Islamic State but are now becoming part of a new, more dangerous network that has accelerated corruption and openly challenged state authority.

Like his predecessors, the prime minister is more focused on pinpointing who to blame for the protests rather than fixing the problems that sparked them. Because the demonstrators are mainly young Shia fed up with the Shia representatives who failed them, Abdulmahdi seems inclined to fall back on contradictory conspiracy theories: one accusing Saudi Arabia and the United States of fomenting the protests, another blaming Iran and its local proxies. Such paranoia will only cripple his efforts to carry out the serious reforms his public is demanding.

HIGH STAKES
Unless the government reverses its heavy-handed approach, the protests will intensify, with potentially disquieting ramifications at home and abroad. For one thing, the domestic unrest could make it more difficult for Baghdad to do its part in warding off regional flare-ups that could draw Iraq into war. Keenly aware that Iran’s recent actions might spark conflict with Saudi Arabia, Israel, and/or the United States, Iraqi leaders have deployed energetic diplomacy to reassure the international community that they will do more to bring Iranian-backed Shia militias under control.

Also troubling is the fact that Iraq’s history offers ample precedent for a strongman or cabal to mount a coup in the face of public disorder. One theory is that Saadi was demoted in part to stymie such a possibility, given his outsize popularity. Yet much of the officer corps is still politicized and far from united. Moreover, potential coup leaders would either have to confront the PMF or partner with them, both of which would be problematic—the former option would cause a civil war, while the latter would further empower the militias. Many Iraqis yearn for decisive leadership even at the expense of democracy, but such a leader might revert to foreign adventurism in order to divert attention from domestic problems.

The PMF have stayed on the sidelines of the protests so far, leaving the riot police and SWAT teams to battle with protesters. The government’s response is causing it to lose hearts and minds with brutal efficiency. Some PMF factions might consider facing off against these security forces and presenting themselves as saviors. Traditionally, Iraq’s militias were armed wings of established political parties, but today’s most influential militias (e.g., Asaib Ahl al-Haq; Kataib Hezbollah) are free-floating entities that aspire for greater political and economic power of their own.

If the militias manage to woo the protest movement, they would notch a big win for Tehran’s goal of deepening Iranian influence and forcing the United States out of the country. This in turn would heighten the risks for Iraq’s neighbors. Iran has lost much of the Iraqi street, but it still has sway with the country’s political elite. Clearly, though, its proxies would have to grapple with Iraqi public discontent and politics at some point down the road.

THE NEED FOR REFORM
Even if the current protests fizzle, they are almost certain to return given the terrible state of Iraq’s governance and economy. Prime Minister Abdulmahdi’s task is obvious: to undertake serious reform efforts toward a clean, accountable government that delivers services and jobs. Iraqis are literally ready to die for good governance. Yet violence begets violence, and the situation could spiral beyond the government’s ability to remedy the crisis through reform. The current protests already appear to be the most serious since 2003.

So far, the prime minister has chosen to band-aid the problems with government benefits. Soon, however, he will need to channel the public’s demands, stand up to entrenched political interests, and take credible action on reforms. His cabinet is perhaps the best equipped yet to deliver on this front given its technocratic background. Shia leader Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani bought him some time earlier today by calling for reform rather than the government’s resignation. Muqtada al-Sadr, however, called for new elections.

Washington has limited means to shape events at this point, but it can still play a useful part by quietly advising the prime minister and other key leaders. Public messaging would be less useful. Instead, U.S. officials should privately but forcefully press Baghdad to exercise strict control over the security forces. The high number of casualties this week will only add to the government’s enormous trust deficit. One firm step in the right direction would be to announce punishments for any security personnel who ignore the prime minister’s orders for restraint, and to investigate the murders of activists involved in the Basra protests of summer 2018.

Iraq has received years of sound foreign advice on economic reform. The failure of successive governments to follow through stems not from a lack of good counsel, but from a lack of political will—and, often as not, corruption. The protestors’ demands are just, and their patience is all but gone. Iraq’s leadership needs to say, loud and clear, “We hear you,” and then get on with the hard work of assembling a viable agenda for opening up the economy, fostering a real private sector to generate job growth, and prioritizing critical services.

Bilal Wahab is the Wagner Fellow at The Washington Institute.

Washingtoninstitute.org

The Iraqi government issues a second package of resolutions to meet the demands of the demonstrators

The Council of Ministers issued at its meeting held on Tuesday, chaired by Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, the second package of urgent measures of the Council of Ministers in meeting the demands of the demonstrators.

Firstly. Formation of the High Committee for the distribution of residential land under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister and membership of:

Minister of Construction and Housing as Vice-Chairman of the Committee

Secretary General of the Council of Ministers – member

Head of the Secretariat of the Higher Commission for Coordination between the provinces – member

Director General of State Real Estate – Member

Director General of Military Survey – Ministry of Defense – Member

Director General of Agricultural Lands – Ministry of Agriculture – Member

A representative of the Prime Minister’s Office as a member

General Manager of Real Estate Registration – Member

The Committee shall:

Preparing the agricultural lands necessary for the allocation of the housing plot to eligible citizens according to the decision No. (70) of 2019.Study the expansion of municipal boundaries and the requirements of extinguishing, expropriating and modifying the use of land and changing its sex for the purposes of the committee’s work.

Second . Include in the draft budget law for 2020 the freezing of the laws and instructions in force that give the right to receive the person more than a salary, retirement or grant and the option of receiving one.

Third. The Ministry of Electricity shall distribute integrated solar energy systems to 3000 poor families free of charge and allocating a total of (15) billion dinars.

Fourthly. For the purpose of providing a large number of job opportunities for unemployed youth decides:

The Ministry of Commerce simplifies the procedures for registering small companies for young people (for the age group 18-35 years) and exempting them from the wages created for the purpose of providing job opportunities for this category in the following works:

Cleaning companies (educational institutions, health institutions, residential investment complexes)

B- Horticulture and gardening companies.

C- Contracting companies for secondary works.

Waste recycling plants.

Software companies.

Other.

Ministries and entities not affiliated with the Ministry and the Governorates are granted the authority to directly refer works (repair, maintenance, construction, expansion and addition, erection, operation, equipment, cleaning, transportation), which cost up to 500 million dinars, as well as projects that cost less than one billion dinars to these companies. Or contractors of Iraqi youth who are not classified and with the exception of the contracting methods stipulated in Article (3) of the Instructions for the Execution of Government Contracts No. (2) of 2014 and the Instructions for Execution of the Budget in Force on Time.

Companies that have government contracts from ministries and entities not affiliated with the Ministry and the governorates shall refer part of their business, not exceeding (500) million dinars, to contractors that are not classified by contracting them in the form of (a nominated contract) with the employer or the contracting authority to guarantee the rights of the secondary contracting parties.

The Ministry of Planning shall issue controls to facilitate and implement this issue mentioned above in paragraph (4). The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs shall take the necessary measures to provide mobile vehicles for the manufacture of ready-to-eat foods, refreshments, hot beverages and specialized vehicles (such as maintenance and cleaning cars of all kinds) for unemployed youth who are registered in their database and are funded either through:

A- Non-Profit Loans Fund at the Ministry of Labor

Or (b) soft loans with nominal interest from the Rafidain and Rashid banks for those not registered in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs database.

The Municipality of Baghdad and the governorates shall simplify the procedures of granting them the license to practice the profession and organize their places in the commercial areas.This type of vehicle is exempt from customs duties.

V. The Ministry of Electricity shall employ the unemployed youth of the age group (18-35) years to work as collectors for electricity wages and according to their areas of residence according to the bills issued by the Ministry, through the operational forms and incentives at 5% of the value of the amounts collected daily to be trained and given work Daily 5,000 dinars for the first three months from the start of training.

Sixthly. Supporting vocational education and the distribution of agricultural land: In order to support vocational education and play its role in providing a skilled professional workforce qualified to establish small and medium-sized private enterprises and provide employment in the agricultural sector,

Granting students of agricultural preparations a monthly grant of fifty thousand dinars during the school year and from 2019-2020.Administrative and financial disengagement of vocational education schools from the general directorates of education and re-association with the general directorate of vocational education in the ministry of education.

Allow the investment of technical and vocational abilities of vocational education schools for productive and service purposes (as well as training purposes) and allocate a percentage of the proceeds of products to students and teaching and training staff, to develop the school environment and market their products, with the development of independent accounting units therein to facilitate the work of these schools.

The Ministry of Agriculture allocates agricultural land with water share to graduates of agricultural preparatory (as well as graduates of colleges and agricultural and veterinary institutes) to establish specialized cooperative societies and investment of these lands, and covered by the law devoted to agricultural full-time No. 24 of 2013.

The Ministry of Agriculture, in coordination with the Ministry of Water Resources, allocates agricultural land, including deserts, for the unemployed agricultural full-time and others, and establish specialized cooperative societies to invest without fragmentation of large agricultural areas.

The Ministry of Agriculture shall reassess the contracted agricultural projects to the private sector, cancel the non-operating projects contracts and re-offer them as investment opportunities without fragmenting them, and provide a new vision to employ them in supporting the agricultural sector and the employment of labor.

The Ministry of Agriculture shall evaluate the contracted agricultural lands according to the land reform law No. (117) for the year 1970, and the law of lease of agricultural lands No. (35) for the year 1983 and other laws in force, and cancel the contracts of unused land and re-lease it to the unemployed agricultural and veterinarians and others.

The Ministry of Agriculture shall activate the Agricultural Credit Facilitation Fund and allocate the recoveries from the Agricultural Initiative Funds for the purpose of lending to the unemployed and those who have been allocated agricultural land.

VII. The Ministry of Industry and Minerals shall train unemployed young graduates and others who wish to establish local products manufacturing projects within the expertise available in the factories and companies of the Ministry and allow them to exploit the unused productive halls in the factories and provide industrial services to them free of charge. Profitable projects or the Youth Employment Initiative launched by the Central Bank.

VIII. The Council of Advisers at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to study the reduction of the retirement age of employees and provide a vision for the Council of Ministers within two weeks in order to replace them with unemployed youth.

IX. The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and other ministries and non-affiliated bodies shall launch the job grades resulting from the movement of owners assigned to holders of higher degrees for the purpose of providing job opportunities for them within two weeks in accordance with the stated controls, competence, need and transparent competition between applicants and within two weeks.

Tenth. The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research:

a. Obliging universities and colleges to accommodate appropriate numbers of graduate holders according to the available capacity through the adoption of teaching staff by (1) teacher: (25) students in the administrative and humanitarian disciplines, the ratio of 1:20 in the disciplines of pure sciences, and the ratio of 1:15 in the disciplines Engineering & Medical Group.

B. Increase the admission rate of vocational school graduates in technical institutes and colleges to 10%, starting from the academic year 2020-2021

eleven. In order to improve municipal and environmental services and to encourage small-scale industries used for waste recycling products,

The Municipality of Baghdad and the governorates shall undertake the procedures of contracting with investors to establish waste treatment and recycling plants using modern methods.The Ministry of Electricity shall purchase all electrical energy produced from waste treatment, if any, at encouraging prices.

twelfth. Requiring ministries and entities not affiliated with the Ministry and the governorates to cover their needs of local products, including private sector products that have an added value of more than 20%.

thirteen. The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers shall form committees in the governorates to follow up the decisions of the Council of Ministers to meet the demands of the demonstrators. The Ministers shall complete their work within a maximum period of three months.

Shafaaq.com

Halbousi vows to put whales of corruption behind bars

Halbousi vows to put whales of corruption behind bars!!

Steppress.net

The Fatah Alliance grants the Prime Minister full powers to implement the reform package

In light of the directives of the supreme religious authority, we stand with the legitimate demands of the demonstrators and adopt some of the directives and recommendations of the religious authority. Cooperation with other political blocs to provide these reforms within a maximum period of ten days.

We also entrust the Prime Minister with the full powers to implement the reform package, including any ministerial reshuffle, government change or any legislation he deems necessary to achieve this reform package.

Alsumaria.tv