In the midst of the battle of Mosul against al Daesh, and the rise of calls for a genuine national reconciliation to prevent the existence of a suitable environment to repeat its emergence in the country, through the abolition of sectarian and ethnic quotas, and put an end to the monopoly of power by the Shiite parties, as opposed to the marginalization of the Sunni sect and the comprehensive deterioration that the country has reached to it at various levels, socially, politically, economically and security. In order to reduce these concerns and demands, the Iraqi National Alliance leader, Ammar al-Hakim, put forward the initiative of the “historic compromise” as part of what he said that it was the pursuit of him to heal the situation in Iraq, and achieve historic reconciliation that is supposed to be present in Iraq after organizing Daesh. Mr. Ammar al-Hakim has expressed in a statement on October 24 about his optimism in relation to the settlement, stating: “The relationship between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq are approaching to the maturity stage, and going in the beginning of the right track, and all the parties began to give up its illusions and reluctant of its fears, and this is a very advanced stage and we will build on it.
The rawabetcenter for Research and Strategic Studies has obtained the text of the initiative of the historic compromise, which was released by the “National Alliance” ruling in Iraq, it has been drafted as follows:
The entrance to the settlement
1.the initiative represents the vision and the will of the forces of the National Alliance for a national settlement that produces Iraqi historic reconciliation.
2. The aim of this initiative is to maintain and strengthen Iraq as an independent , sovereign, united, federal and democratic state to bring all of their sons and components together.
3.National Alliance forces abide by the terms of the initiative after the agreement and ratification.
4.. The initiative is based on the principle of settlement, which means the mutual commitment between the Iraqi parties that are committed to the political process or wishing to be engaged in it , and reject the principle of unilateral concession.
- The path of National settlement is not linked but it is a complementary to the paths of community reconciliations which to translate in the form of orders, procedures and legislation to serve the community with all its sects and ethnic groups, and this is an act of the state with all its institutions that have done and will do it, regardless of national reconciliation track, and providing insights and attempted to negotiate to reach to a national settlement does not mean to stop the wheel of the state ,noting that the national reconciliation initiative is a strategic path in which functions ,responsibilities , duties and obligations of the state are continuing with it whether the historic political settlement achieved or not achieved.
6.The Initiative path is a national framework includes all Iraq’s ethnic and religious and community components, and can proceed with it by stages within the framework of overall national settlement.
- no return nor dialogue and no compromise with the Baath Party or Daesh or any other terrorist entity or a racist or penitential(Takfiri) and the representation of the components and the Iraqi parties should be subject to acceptance of the constants contained in this initiative.
8.The mission of United Nations pledges to provide assistance for Iraq by providing its political good offices, including to provide the support for the process of national reconciliation through facilitation and advise, support and assist in the promotion and pay this initiative forward internally, regionally and internationally.
National settlement
First / names proposed for the initiative: national reconciliation – a historical settlement – National Initiative for peace and state-building.
Second / What do we mean by national settlement: the settlement we seek to it means: a historic , political , social and national settlement aimed to Coexisted Iraq, free of violence, dependency, and achieve civil peace and provide a suitable environment for the construction of the state, and involving all segments of Iraqi society and ethnic and religious community, including women, youth and civil society organizations and put all the Iraqi parties to its mutual commitments and guarantees within specific time limits for parties to follow.
Third /the need for Settlement: the comprehensive , national , just and accepted settlement is a rescue formula for Iraq, and it is the best strategic option for our society and our state, not only to end the dispute on state issues, but is seeking to rebuild the state to ensure its continuity and strengthened it in the face of the challenges of terrorism and division and non-security and non-equity and non-accounting and instability and non the development of organized crime, corruption and chaos.
Fourth / settlement with whom ?: National Alliance forces are seeking to consult with all actors in Iraqi society on its diversity, whether they are within the state frameworks or the political process or outside including political, religious and community existence and opposition and armed groups within the ceiling of the Constitution (Exception of Baath Party , Daesh and every terrorist , takfiri (the penitential) and racist entity ), towards an historic agreement concluded with the representatives of these parties, which owns admissibility and committed to the principles of initiative, and the settlement of its representation is related to the advice of representatives of the National Alliance.
V / foundations of the Settlement: to ensure real , solid and possible settlement and to be accepted by everyone ,it must rely on the following foundations :.
- comprehensive settlement and not unilateral concession .
- the principle of no victor nor vanquished .
- reset crises among Iraqi parties.
- To reject the use of violence as apolitical card to achieve political settlements.
Sixth / principles as the parameters of the settlement :
1.faith and commitment in word and deed to the the unity of Iraq as a land and people and preserve the sovereignty and independence of its decision and its identity and its Federal Parliamentary democratic system and reject its division under any circumstances.
2.abide by the constitution as a source and work on it without selectivity and willingness to undertake constitutional amendments on according to the mechanisms provided for by the Constitution itself, and agree on a political contract (under the roof of the Constitution)to clarify and resolve the contentious issues and regulatory phase of the state affairs that are agreed on its files .
3.official recognition and binding on all parties in the political process and its outputs and the required consequences and responsibilities of the various political, legal, economic, cultural, media and religious levels, and rejected political blackmail of any kind. And the binding recognition to the results of free and fair elections, and to refrain from the practice of duplication in attitudes towards the legitimacy of the Iraqi political system (foot in rule and foot in the opposition), including the cessation of incitement against the legitimacy of the existing political system internally and externally. And the rejection the experience of the dictatorship and the exclusionary and discriminatory as approach for the management of the state at any given time, and respect and preserve human rights and the overall political freedoms and civil rights.
- the commitment to Work together of all partners to reject and fight terrorism and protect the country and its people, and not politically and religiously covered, and to ensure of non-availability of incubators for terrorism and to work on its political and societal fragmentation to ensure the non-recurrence of the birth of a new terrorist entities . praising the national role of the Sons of Iraq and the religious authority and security forces and volunteers from the popular crowd and the sons of the tribes and the peshmerga to defend the honor of the homeland from terrorism Daesh.
5.Aclear and explicit conviction of the policies of the Baathist Saddam’s regime as the crimes of genocide and mass graves, executions and assassinations against the Marjaas, scientists and religious men , and national elites, and the crimes of the use of internationally prohibited weapons and the draining of the marshes and forced displacement, demographic change and the laws of repression and criminalization of retroactivity against Islamic and nationalist movement. And Baath Party to bear the responsibility of all the legal consequences of what happened during his reign of sectarian and racist and repressive policies against the Iraqi people, Shiites, Kurds, Sunnis, Turkmen and other minorities and to address the effects of these policies. The United Nations assumes a project to revitalize the memory of the former regime of crimes and attention to its victims.
6.consolidation of the state of national institutions and repair it through: effective and well-established constitutional institutions , and the adoption of a real separation between the legislative, executive and judicial authorities to ensure the vitality and professionalism and the rule of specialist powers , and build a free and multi economy, enabling a strong and vibrant civil society, and the adoption of the modern sphosticated education system and free and responsible media and active cultural civic life active. And taking into account the national and professional , integrity and efficiency controls in the selection of civilian and military leaders of the country and the adoption of the principle of transparency in the management of state files on its diversity.
- the rejection of all forms of demographic change practiced by the Baathist regime of Saddam, and address all previously effects of demographic change and later, working on the return of displaced persons and immigrants to their homes and seek the return of the local community cohesion of the various regions of Iraq, and working on the reconstruction of areas devastated by terrorism of Daash and the war on it .
8.actual commitment to the need for equitable distribution of wealth on the basis of the ratio of the population of the provinces. And a commitment that the oil and gas belongs to all Iraqis, taking into account the producing provinces and fairness of provinces that were deprived unfairly throughout the period of former regime ., And considering water, rivers, lakes and dams, monuments and archaeological sites a national treasure for all Iraqis and prevent any detrimental act to the interests of the Iraqi people, internally and externally.
- The commitment to the values of coexistence, tolerance and brotherhood and acceptance of others and national belonging, renounce violence and non-tolerance, conspiracy and aggression in solving social and political problems and the adoption of dialogue and democratic and the legal mechanisms for the management of the dispute and to achieve the interests away from resorting to arms.
- the condemnation an rejection the approach of Takfiri and treason against any of the components of Iraqi society and criminalize forms of sectarian incitement and racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing, and the criminalization and the fight against terrorism, violence and corruption that targets Iraqis and state institutions and not to legitimize or legitimacy by all parties to these acts and consolidate it legislatively.
11.The rule of law and restricts arms to the hands of the state and not to allow the presence of armed entities or militias outside the framework of the state, and face the outlaws without discrimination, and to hold accountable diligently and negligent ones including members of the security forces, according to the law, the adoption of the military service law, and to ensure that a peaceful society governed by law based on the justice and equality, and respect for religious, sectarian and cultural specificities of all the citizens of the state.
- the hard work to liberate the country and all its institutions from sectarian and ethnic, quota, and discriminatory system to establish a political maturity system to ensure the establishment of the State of citizenship and to promote the rule of law, justice and equality of opportunity and the obligation of participation and accountability which are essential requirements for the respect and entrench for the institution of the state.
13.Work on the distribution of powers and decentralization that would govern the relationship between the federal government and the regions and provinces according to the federal system in order to preserve the unity of Iraq and the refusal to split it
14.To promote and facilitate political and economic and social reform, and good governance and transparency, with special attention to the fight against corruption (including political nepotism , and quotas and favoritism) and work to build and strengthen the state institutions and governance at central and local levels.
15. to resort to peaceful and legal means of expression and peaceful transfer of power and claim the legitimate rights of all individuals and the components of the state and to condemn and fight against any form of armed and violent expression of the demands.
16. Maintenance of Iraqi blood regardless of his religion and his community and nationality and ethnicity.And a commitment to public and actual respect for religious and sectarian beliefs of all Iraqis, and not compromising to the religious authority(marjaa) and other religious symbols, and the protection of holy sites and all places of worship and rituals of Iraqis.And a commitment to reshaping the educational curricula to ensure the removal of atonement (takfiri), exclusion and hatred curricula of the human right – absolute rights , and commitment to the educational process that assist Iraqis to know their symbols and beliefs, and their religious, cultural and historical heritage as part of their privacy without any cancellation or guardianship or bias or aggressive or confiscation of the other as not to compromise to the unity of the national education Since consolidates brotherhood, coexistence and acceptance of others and to promote civic values.
17.The commitment of all Iraqi parties to defend the supreme interests of Iraq and its unity and sovereignty towards the external interventions. And the parties committed to expel Iraq from the regional and international arenas of conflict and lack of internationalization of its files, and sets its relations and interests with neighboring countries and the world in light of the adoption and its support for the draft of national settlement.
Seventh / settlement plan:
1.the completion of the preparation of initiatives papers for all state components that represent their vision for a political settlement with the help of UNAMI and in accordance with the principles of this initiative.
2.the UN Mission assist Iraq to identify and resolve the formal representation of the representatives of all the components of Iraqi parties and to the satisfaction of all parties, and the United Nations agencies dealing with disruptive to this settlement according to the contexts established internationally.
3.The United Nations mission provide Assistance for Iraq with the advice of the Iraqi government and representatives of the National Alliance and the rest of the Iraqi parties to submit a detailed strategy of historic national settlement in light of the initiatives put forward by the Iraqi parties, including to set up the negotiated plan of specific time ceilings to enter with negotiated detailed operator to all the initiatives under the supervision of the United Nations .
4 . the plan identifies the spheres that will be taken to build confidence between the Iraqi parties that will include the following issues: the Safeguards and displaced persons and detainees and legislation and transitional justice and historical crimes and project / documentation center and the rule of law, the Constitutional amendments, shape and identity of the state, security, weapons and reform of the security and media sector and telecommunications in addition to any issue agreed upon by the Iraqi parties
.5.the United Nations mission put forward for the Assistance for Iraq, the final version of the national settlement and be binding on all Iraqi parties and be approved in the House of Representatives and the government after the blessing of religious leaders and support and ensure of international and regional organizations and institutions, and particularly the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations mission will work on the Assistance of Iraq to provide much support of the neighboring regional countries for the success of the agreed national settlement plan.
6.The United Nations is committed to support the Iraqi government and the parties involved in the national settlement for the implementation of this settlement and exercise all its powers to promote and protect the settlement from any party tried to foil or hinder it or threaten the implementation of its provisions, including the Iraqi parties and regional neighboring countries.
And background of the document dates back to the beginning of the formation of the Government of Haider al-Abadi in August 2014, which came in accordance with the agreement between the Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish political forces, from which al-Abadi committed to proceed with the national reconciliation project within the consensus government that pursues and the principle of federalism and distribution of powers and wealth in the fair form between all the components of the country. Abadi has already shown unlike his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, that he is committed to its obligations towards the partners in power, Abadi has completed an important parts of the reconciliation project, including amnesty law voted by parliament finally on August 25 . Also, the government completed the project of “Public Authority Act to monitor the allocation of federal revenue” which under take the equitable distribution of wealth among the various governorates of Iraq and the Kurdistan region, and it has been voted on the law in November 7th. The Abadi succeeded relatively in curbing the bridle of Shiite militias involving under the umbrella of the popular crowd Foundation, which has become legally part of the Iraqi state, under the command of the Prime Minister. Abadi was able to resolving most of the differences with the Kurdistan region finally after a historic visit by regional president Massoud Barzani to Baghdad on 29 September . Add this to his success in reuniting all Iraqi military forces of the army and the Peshmerga militias and Sunni clans, and others in the fight against “Daesh”, especially in the currently ongoing liberalization operations of Mosul .
The National Reconciliation Commission in the Council of Ministers considered that “national reconciliation” which recently introduced that it is “different” from the previous political initiatives by four pillars, pointing to the existence of an operational plan of the five phases of the implementation of the “settlement”, as it emphasized that it includes international dimension by partnering with United nations. the committee adviser Hussein Darwish al-Adli in a televised interview, said that “national reconciliation would be historic if it is signed because it is different from all previous initiatives,” pointing out that “these initiatives can not be considered real because it was just a framework.” Adli added that “this settlement is different from its predecessors in four pillars that it includes the principles and foundations, and the element of the guarantees, and an executive plan of the five phases of the implementation of the settlement, as well as a full partnership with the United Nations Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) in order to be entered in the internationalist dimension. ”
In the view of some political analysts , the settlement aims to achieve Iraqi political victory that represents a roadmap for all components of the country, and the settlement will be put forward after the end of the battle of Mosul and retook it fully, and a committee has been formed to write that document, and sponsored by the UN, as well as under the supervision of regional and European countries. ” And that Iraqi political arena today is ready to put up such as this settlement and initiative, because everyone is looking at the post-Daesh, which is an important stage, as well as the thorny files in the region are generally going to the settlement, including the Iraqi file, and ” saying: we hope of that document to rebuild the Iraqi state institutions, because the stability of the countries depends on the stability of its institutions.
The President of the coalition of law State , the former Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, issued for his part, strongly worded statement, he said that the “historic compromise made by the National Alliance included the principles and controls identified the target and excluded ones of the settlement , there is no compromise with those who caused the sit-ins crisis and brought the terrorism , and no compromise with those who were rejected by their Sunni component . “He concluded by saying,” We do not want with the name of the settlement to reproduce the terrorism and projects of division. ” It can be understood from al-Maliki accuse that the peaceful sit-ins that took place in the period of his rule in the Sunni cities that they were behind the recruitment of terrorist organizations, and those organizations have gained favor in those cities for sectarian reasons. It was clear that al-Maliki is trying to exploit the rising tide against al-Hakim, and present himself as a conservative in the context of the Shia political orientations, retaining the sectarian quotas in the Iraqi political system. It is strange here is that the one who oppose this initiative is Nuri al-Maliki, who entered Iraq during the period of his rule “in 2006 -2014” in the dark tunnel of ruin as a result of sectarian policies against Iraqi citizens from the Sunni sect.
In turn, Iyad Allawi, warned on Saturday in a press conference, the «Failure to achieve genuine reconciliation in the country following the completion of the liberation of Mosul, may provide the atmosphere for the re-emergence of al« Qaeda «in Iraq, due to the presence of the environment incubator complaining about the state of exclusion and marginalization». Allawi stressed in, Mosul is a historic opportunity for Iraq in the post-liberalization of Mosul fron the organization of al «State», and that Iraq is at a crossroads, either be out of this enclosure and build a genuine reconciliation between the components to save situations from the overhaul collapse or to go to an end ».
And a member of the Iraqi parliament from Mosul Nora Albjara, confirmed «that the stage after the collapse of the organization in Mosul represent the real test for the leaders of Iraq’s various political affiliations and decision-makers to build the state or to establish non-state». She called in a statement for the adoption of a national policy of Iraqis to gather them and not to differentiate their unity under secondary titles such as the community. , creed, and nationality, demanding that the a battle to liberate Mosul from the organization to be the start of the recovery in the rebuilding of the state and structure of the state and its power , otherwise it will increase the numbers people who are resentful to the bad conditions and poor management of the country and the rule of disparate parties. » She added “Exit of the file of the regulation is a golden opportunity for the various Iraqi parties to rebuild the state and Iraqi society on the new political and constitutional foundations, as we can not overcome the mistakes of previous phase by relying on the current policy and its mechanisms and its approach in the rebalancing of the state and the consolidation of national bonds between the components of Iraqi society.
But all this does not mean that the road is paved for the achievement of national reconciliation, especially if we take into account the experience of the post-2003, which included several unsuccessful experiences in achieving national reconciliation, leading to the recent frustrations of the emergence of “Daesh” and others. This is confirmed by the oldest professor of Middle East Studies at the American Brandeis University Professor Kanan Makiya, a major contributor to the buildup of military alliance that toppled Baath Party rule in 2003, headed by the United States. Kanaan says that despite the fact that the existence of this project and giving a role to the United Nations which were considered to be two positive things , but the most important of all of this , what is happening on the ground, noting that the understandings of national reconciliation, which disrupted the Iraqi heads since 2003, so far, were not applied , on the ground Indeed, in the real practical steps .
The talk of reconciliation is to talk about life, and seek to preserve the values and principles. We are all with these noble meanings. Thus, no sane to stand against national reconciliation, or historical settlement , the reconciliation is a step in the right direction. Therefore, anyone involved in the blood of Iraqis ; both who are inside or outside the political process should be deprived from it, as well as the leaders of murder, terrorism and thieves of public money should be excluded . But to exonerate themselves, those who are inside the political process , this counterfeiting and forgery of reality, because some of them accused of supporting the militias, others accused of murder and extortion, and others. Therefore, I think that the issue is not as easy as imagined by those who hold the reins of power in Iraq today. For this, they should not sit on the hill and their paper should be logical and realistic . Reconciliation is a necessary step but should be built on solid ground, not fragile. Is this solid floor present and ready on the ground in Iraq that is buffeted by wars, militias and terrorist groups?
Iraq is currently undergoing a fateful battle and its battle with Daesh , political and economic corruption and sectarian and ethnic exclusion is a battle of existence, and that its sons will pay the price of the state of fragmentation and disintegration experienced by it , so the Iraqi people is in dire need for the a historic reconciliation and political project to establish for a new social , comprehensive and reassuring cotract for all Iraqis without exception and to deepen the co-existence of Iraqi components, it is unreasonable that Iraq, which is full of human and natural resources and many human civilizations were founded on its land to be divided on a sectarian and national basis or to continue in the form of a failed state.
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies