The Ishtar Center for Democracy Support was held on Friday the 19th. 11. 2021 In the city of Najaf, an expanded discussion session within the (National Stability and Community Peace Initiative) launched by the Center. The session discussed the following topics:
First: The political conflict and its impact on societal peace.
Second: The October elections and their role in national stability and system reform.
Third: The next government is between the majority and consensus.
With the participation of many elites and social forces, including religious, academic and youth figures from Najaf, Baghdad, Dhi Qar and Karbala, they are:
The clergy of the Hawza Najaf Al-Ashraf:
Mr. Modar Al-Helou
Mr. Hassan El-Sayed Mortada El-Hakim
Mr. Hashem Al-Awadi PhD in International Relations
Mr. Riyad Al-Hijjah.
Sheikh Majid Al Ismail.
Researchers and academics:
– Dr. Muhammad Al-Quraishi (session facilitator)
– Dr. Muhammed Anouz. The winning independent candidate for Najaf.
– Dr. Najm Abd Tarish. Professor of political science at the University of Kufa and the Institute of El Alamein.
– Dr. Khaled Al-Muaini. Head of the Dijla Center for Strategic Studies, Baghdad.
– Mr. Faris Haram. Political activist and professor of philosophy at the University of Kufa.
– Dr. Said Jafar. The writer and academic from the University of Petersburg, Russia.
– Dr. Khaled Al-Ardawi. Head of the Karbala Center for Studies.
– Dr. Salim Gohar. Doctor and political activist.
– Dr. Abdel Nasser Khaled. Researcher at the Dijla Center for Studies.
– Engineer Naseer Hamid. Researcher at the Dijla Center for Studies.
– Dr. Mujd Al-Hatemi. University of Kufa
– Mr. Makki Sultani. political activist.
Young:
– Dr. Muhammad Alawi. President of the Ishtar Center for Democracy Support
– Engineer Ammar Adnan. Director of Ishtar Center Administration
– Dr. Rua Darwish. leader in the national house. President of the Vision for Development Association.
Lawyer Ahmed Ali Majid. Political activist
– Mr. Laith Abdul Karim. From the International Republican Institute
– Mr. karar kamuna. Member of the Board of Directors of Ashtar Center
– Dr. Murtada Nabil. Member of the Board of Directors of the Ashtar Center.
Social, religious, academic, and youth elites session
The participants in the discussion session reviewed the serious challenges facing the Iraqi democratic system at the present time, and diagnosed the problems and causes, and realistic solutions were proposed. The session came out with a number of outputs and recommendations that can be summarized as follows:
Criteria for selecting the next government
During the session, a number of opinions were crystallized about the form of the next government, which can be summed up in two ways:
- The first: a majority political government whose performance is held responsible by a political party in opposition to a parallel parliamentary opposition, for which another political party bears the responsibility for its performance.
- The second: a consensual government (temporarily) that is a transitional phase that paves the way for the political majority as an optimal option in the next phase, provided that the parties forming this government bear full responsibility for the government performance, emphasizing the need for a unified parliamentary opposition that includes the winning October forces and independent representatives.
The political system. Treatments and solutions
- The necessity of activating Parties Law No. 36 of 2015 to undermine political money, neutralize political weapons and address the phenomenon of political sectarianism.
- Activating the law of the Federation Council that complements the work of the legislative authority, as stipulated in Article 48 of the Iraqi constitution: (The federal legislative authority consists of the Council of Representatives and the Federation Council).
- Emphasis on resolving all political disputes by resorting to the Iraqi constitution and the laws in force through the judiciary, adhering to democratic mechanisms and preventing all forms of political interference in the work of the judiciary.
- The need for political forces to stay away from inflammatory rhetoric that causes serious social divisions, and the need to transform the political conflict into a competition for programs that serve the citizen and preserve Iraq’s status and sovereignty, not for private gains.
- Inviting all political blocs to sit at a round table to address the political blockage and its social extensions.
- Emphasizing the need for political forces to respond to the demands of the October protests, to reveal the killers of the demonstrators and the fate of the kidnapped and disappeared, and to work on programs to assimilate young people into the political system as political actors pressing towards correcting the tracks.
- Inviting the political forces to consider the advice of the supreme religious authority in Najaf to avoid internal fighting and maintain civil peace.
- Amending the current electoral system in line with the nature of the main tasks of the MP’s work and in line with the will and aspirations of the Iraqi people.
- Ending the phenomenon of quotas in the security forces and reformulating the definition of (belief and loyalty) in the Iraqi military institution.
Community participation in decision-making
- Strengthening the role of the popular movement in support of independent representatives and the forces of change.
- Striving for the success of the new political alternatives that are preparing themselves to be confronted in the next stage.
- Forming a coordinating network for civil society institutions, whose mission is:
- Putting general policies and frameworks for civil work in Iraq
- Influencing the decision-making process and evaluating political tracks
- Societal political awareness and correcting public opinion.
- Bridging the gap between specialized academics and experts and decision makers.