The events of Baghdad Dialogue Conference , which was held on Saturday over two days in the Iraqi capital Baghdad at Baghdad University and hosted senior officials and academic figures under the slogan (after the victory options ), which was hosted by the Iraqi Institute for the dialogue of thought in collaboration with the House of Representatives and the University of Baghdad, in the presence of the president of the republic of Iraq Fuad Masum with the participation of media and parliamentary delegations from different countries, including Iran , Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, and Turkey, as well as a crowd of diplomats and academics to discuss how to deal with the issues and take advantage of the experiences of the stage after the expulsion of Daesh and extremist groups from Iraq.
During the conference, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that the victories over gangs «Daesh» achieved by the unity of Iraqis and their steadfastness and big sacrifices of the people of Iraq , and expressed surprise at the fear from the stage after «Daesh» . And said “It is when we set out to form a government before more than two years and put at the forefront of our government program to restore and liberate our territory and our cities, and cleanse Iraq from the terrorist gang« Daesh », and we consider this the goal of the strategic priorities of the government’s work, and we have prepared a plan to counter and eradicate terrorism, and we are now closer to achieve this goal, and all the cities will return to the homeland very soon. ”
Abadi added that he has seven visions shaping the features of Iraq after Daesh first of which is to re-stabilize the liberated areas and re-displaced people and compensate those affected within the humanitarian plan. And on the second vision Abadi said it centered by ” respect others and peaceful coexistence with all partners in the homeland of different religions and ideology , intellectual and respect their sacred places and the protection of minorities and the sanctity of places of worship for all religions, sects and this is mainly for community reconciliation.”
And pointed out that « The third point is not to allow the return of anomalous cases and appearances that were prevailed in Iraq in the stage of pre – occupation of Daesh to the cities , a case of incitement and tension and the obnoxious sectarian and ethnic ditching at the expense of the higher interests of the country, and this is what contributed to the empowerment of Daesh of falling cities and provinces “.
And he stressed to the «commitment with the discourse which devotes the spirit of citizenship and urge the unity and cooperation and do not allow to the organization and any terrorist and a criminal organization to return again and cover it in the liberated cities or allow the growth of new terrorist cells.»
He added: «With regard to the fourth point , it is the importance of good neighborly relations based on mutual interests with neighboring countries and the region, and work with our national will and the Iraqi independent decision and our will and our positions will not subject to outside forces regarding our issues and national interest .
The Abadi confirmed « the restriction of arms in the hands of the state and the abolition of armed manifestations once and for all, respect for the provisions of the judiciary and the rule of law in all aspects of the state and society that represent the fifth point in our vision of the post – liberation and victory” .
And added that « the sixth point is to continue with full force and determination and cooperation of everyone to fight corruption in all its forms and pictures because it is the largest incubator of terrorism and crime. »
He pointed out that « the seventh point which is represented by moving of institutions and departments of the state away from political interference and quotas and non – appropriation of the locations of responsibility and public functions , in order to achieve justice and equality of opportunity and to rely on efficient and specialized elements capable of the management of work independently and professionally ” He pledged to «restructure the security institution away from the corruption», adding that «corruption in the military is the most prominent reasons for previous failures of security in Iraq.
And he stressed of the necessity of waging a strong campaign on the corruption in the military institution to avoid more of the security failures referring to that ” the government has put a plan to eliminate the corrupt in all the state institutions ”
This vision that if it is allowed to implement it, it will be capable of rebuilding Iraq in all fields, but the question that arises in this context do the vision of Abadi is facing challenges in its implementation ? Especially if we know that a political settlement project in Iraq entered a sharp rivalry between Iraq’s largest Shiite political currents, which had sought to subject various issues and topics to measure of profit and loss in a game of capture the power and get the most from its gains . Especially when the team of Nuri al-Maliki, the former Prime Minister of Iraq, try to take advantage of the change in the Shiite political map after the emergence of the popular crowd and devote his presence militarily and politically, including paving the way for the rise of the warlords of his militia to power of direct rule. And they are keen to produce their leader as a “hawk” of hawks of confrontation to attempts to “re-integration of the terrorists and the Baathists and Saddam’s to political life under the title of reconciliation and a political settlement “, which is part of the slogans that traditionally used to stimulate enthusiasm for the Shiite street that their daily living and security concerns prevented them from paying attention to such slogans. And based on narrow calculations Maliki will not allow to the vision of Abadi to be realized that there are those who believe that he is thinking of revenge from the Shiite political class deprived him of his third term, which still stand in the way of his return to power. He is against any real desirable change both domestically and abroad . For the first level is to keep Iraq in the dark tunnel and the consolidation of sectarian politics in Iraq.this is contrary to the vision of Abadi and concerning abroad level, he is against any Arab-Iraqi convergence with the exception if this convergence is of sectarian flavor and the evidence for that , since a few days the law coalition under the leadership of vice president Nori al-Maliki waged a violent attack against the government of Abadi for issuing a decision to exempt the Jordanian goods coming to Iraq from the customs duties and continued to sell Iraqi oil to Jordan at a reduced prices .
The MP from the coalition of state of the law, Muwaffaq al-Rubaie considered that «the decision to exempt a country like Jordan from customs duties for exports to the Iraqi market, is the wrong decision, because Jordan is still a home to the family of former President Saddam Hussein». He added, in a statement, «exemption of Jordanian exports to Iraq from customs, is a wrong policy in the midst of the financial crisis experienced by Iraq, and the Iraqis of earners who are suffering from sever living and people who work with contracts are the first who deserve of these funds, especially since Jordan still get our oil at a reduced price and still also a home to the family of Saddam and his men and Altkfferin of Qaeda and state organizations », according to the statement.
Also, the MP of the coalition of state «Law», Firdous al – Awadi criticized , the exemption of Jordanian exports to Iraq from customs duties, and considered it as a «big mistake», describing Jordan as « the biggest hotbed of family and men of Saddam, and the largest source of” the Takfireen” she considered that « the government and people of Jordan were not in any the day friends of the Iraqi people», she said.
and Said in its statement, that « the Iraqi government deal with its counterpart Jordan to exempt the Jordanian exports to Iraq from customs, is a big mistake at a time when oil prices falling apart, and Iraq ‘s attempts to compensate and look for other revenue to assist the Iraqi treasury».
She pointed out that « the land of Jordan’s biggest hotbed of Saddam ‘s family and henchmen, and the biggest source of Takfereen and terrorists to Iraq».
She asked, «After all these reasons and provocative perspectives of Jordan, do it deserve to be granted the concession of Iraq and his government to exempt exports from taxes and sold its oil at discounted prices .
Awadi called for the submit the issue of the exemption of Jordan from customs duties for goods on the parliament to be for a voice of the people the final say in it», indicating that «some of the decisions taken by the government, towards some countries are weak , these decisions are not subject to political accurate assessments, such as the issue of exemption of Jordan from customs duties, as well as not to get Iraq to a timetable for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Iraq during the last visit of Prime Minister of Turkey ».
She explained that «that it happens that the Iraqi government is dealing with a great generosity in exchange for giving small but non – existent, it was the first and more worthy than others was the Iraqi people , who was subject to the tax generously, this gives the impression that the Iraqi government and its competent institutions in these courtesies are dealing personal shy significantly to please its guests which are intersecting perfectly with political literature and the common interests of the countries and those who pursue the Iraqi affairs indicate that the coalition of the law state is trying make use of and attitude of Abadi government including the positions towards other countries to wage attacks ans criticisms against its policies to weaken it and to show the government in the appearance that do not administrate the country properly.
Since the rise of al-Abadi to the leadership of the executive power in Iraq, his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki did not spare effort to exercise pressure on him using his influence in the state and his position at the head of the Secretariat of the Dawa party and in the leadership of the coalition of state law, revealing ambitions to regain the post of prime minister, who sees himself more worthy of it than Abadi who is ranking lower than him in the party. Insiders on the scenes of the Shiite parties in Iraq say that Maliki is betting on the weakness of his successor, Haider al-Abadi and his inability to challenge him in the next phase. So, Iraq is going to the parliamentary elections in 2018 that may be of exceptional importance as it will arrange things of rule in the country during the new phase that will hopefully be more stable than previous ones.
The unity of the Iraqi Studies
Translated by : Mudhaffar al-Kusairi
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies