WOTS WED JUN 1 22 Protestors Storm the Iraqi Parliament Building
These are the articles I discussed on the My FX Buddies Blog
Nechirvan Barzani calls Bafel Talabani and stresses the protection of the federalism in Iraq and the constitutional entity of the region
Nechirvan Barzani calls Bafel Talabani and stresses the protection of federalism in Iraq and the constitutional entity of the region
ELECTRICITY ANNOUNCES NON-PAYMENT OF IRANIAN GAS DUES AND REDUCTION IN
PROCESSING HOURS
The Ministry of Electricity announced its delay in paying Iran's financial dues in exchange for gas supplies, explaining that the reduction in gas quantities caused a decrease in the hours of electricity supply in the midst of a hot summer season overshadowed by drought.
Iraq had announced its agreement with Tehran to pay $1.6 billion, starting from the first of June, to ensure the flow of gas during the four summer months.
And the Ministry of Electricity said in its statement today, Wednesday, that Iran has reduced by five million cubic meters the quantities of gas it exports, “which was a reason for reducing the hours of supplying electric power,” while the temperature is expected to reach 48 degrees Celsius by the end of the week, which means an increased need for refrigerants. and electricity.
He added, "The Iranian side has demanded the payment of financial obligations for gas dues from the Iraqi side, and with the delay in approving the general budget and searching for an alternative solution to the Food Security Law, this is the reason for the reluctance that we mentioned earlier." The statement stated that there are efforts to communicate "with the Iranian side to reach satisfactory compromise solutions to pay the dues and continue pumping gas."
Iraq, which has been living in the midst of a continuous political crisis for eight months, has not yet been able to approve a budget for 2022, as the major political parties are unable to reach an agreement to form a government and elect a president.
In May, Minister of Electricity Adel Karim said, "Iraq owes Iran 1.692 billion dollars for gas dues. The passage of the emergency support law will enable the payment of gas debts as of the beginning of next June, according to what we agreed upon with Iran."
The mentioned figure is for the arrears for 2020, which Iraq has not yet paid due to the very complex mechanism, which the Iraqi authorities are forced to follow to benefit from an exemption from the US sanctions imposed on Iran.
Iraq is not allowed to hand over cash to Iran, and the money paid must be used to finance the import of food and medicine. The summer of 2021 also passed difficult for the Iraqis, as the country also witnessed frequent power cuts, and demonstrations, especially in the south of the country.
Iraq suffers from a crisis in energy and electricity, which usually worsens in the summer season, when the temperature sometimes touches 52 degrees Celsius. The country, whose infrastructure has deteriorated due to decades of war and sanctions, relies on Iran for a third of its gas needs.
Political sources: the coordinating framework agreed to Sadr's conditions, and a new government will see the light soon
Political sources in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, stated that the forces of the "coordinating framework" were subject to the conditions of the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, with regard to the file of forming a government, and it is scheduled that these forces will present a new initiative, to end the political blockage, and proceed with the path of forming a government. new.
Since the parliamentary elections were held on the tenth of last October, the Iraqi political forces have been unable to form the new government, due to the desire of the “Save the Homeland” coalition led by the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, to form a government of a “national majority,” while the coordinating framework forces seek to A "consensual" government.
During the past few days, the atmosphere seemed calmer between the two sides, as a political source said, "The coordinating framework forces agreed to al-Sadr's conditions to proceed in the path of forming a national majority government, but in return, they are seeking to ally with him, (albeit formally), with the aim of Preserving the (Shiite House), an option that al-Sadr does not seem to oppose, as long as the result is to remove these factions from the file of state administration.”
The source, who declined to be named, added that “the coordinating framework forces have reached a good stage of negotiation, and agreed in principle to the issue of the majority government, and to end its boycott of parliament sessions, but they want the option of the prime minister to remain, exclusively within the Shiite house, and the agreement is internally on it.” And then proceed to put it before the other political blocs,” noting that “the members of the Sadrist movement, during the recent negotiations, saw this proposal as not opposing what they wanted from a majority government that would bear the responsibility of running the country for the next four years.”
Huge pressures
During the past months, al-Sadr, through his alliance, "Save the Homeland", exerted tremendous pressure on the forces of the coordination framework, with the aim of forming a national majority government that would bear the responsibility of managing the country, with the other blocs going to the opposition.
In turn, a member of the "coordinating framework", Naim al-Aboudi, revealed part of the details of the new initiative, noting that "the issue of the prime ministership was entrusted to the Sadrist movement, provided that the forces of the coordination framework have the right to object."
Al-Aboudi added in a television statement: “We told the Sadrist movement: Let us as Shiites meet, and the Sadrist bloc has the right to present the prime minister’s candidate, and the framework has the right to veto the candidate if he does not want it, and we then announce going to the opposition, but they had another vision.” He pointed out that "there are realistic possibilities for the political parties, and we expect a rapprochement between the framework and the Sadrist bloc in the coming days."
The political circles hope to end this blockage and to proceed with the process of completing the three presidencies, after the recent negotiations, amid anticipation for the announcement of the new initiative.
In this context, a member of the State of Law coalition, Wael Al-Rikabi, said that "the new initiative is not clear, but what is being talked about now is the willingness of the coordinating framework forces to negotiate, and its condition is the formation of (the most numerous Shiite bloc)".
Al-Rikabi believes that "this readiness indicates that the framework can make concessions in order to get out of the current political impasse, and this can only come through dialogue, which calls for concessions from other parties."
Observers of the Iraqi affairs believe that the rapprochement between the two Kurdish parties in the Kurdistan region has motivated the rest of the parties to hold new consultations, as Kurdish circles hope to agree on one candidate for the presidency to be agreed upon internally.
The President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, announced during his visit to Sulaymaniyah last week, that common ground had been reached between the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Massoud Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan led by Bafel Talabani.
Based on this visit, the two parties held an expanded meeting in Erbil province, last Wednesday, in the presence of Barzani and Talabani, with the aim of holding consultations on forming the government and the position of the presidency.
7 months into the crisis
in this regard, political analyst Falah Al-Dhahabi believes that “the blockage in the Kurdish-Kurdish relationship is about to end, and a high-level delegation from the Kurdistan region will go to Najaf to resolve the Shiite situation, which is now closer to a solution, if the National Union agrees, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
But the Iraqi analyst puts forward another scenario during which “Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi and the President of the Republic, Barham Salih, remain, to end this year or the middle of next year, with a change of a number of ministers, and perhaps after elections, or during this period, constitutional amendments are made to help the court.” Federal, and this is subject to future consultations, and the possibility of political forces reaching real solutions.”
The government formation crisis is approaching its seventh month, in one of the longest crises since the formation of previous governments after 2003.
The Iraq crisis is where you are now: Half of Al-Sadr's deadline for his opponents has expired
With the expiry of the last deadline given by the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, to his political opponents to form a government, during which he said that he would take the role of the "national opposition", there does not appear to be any changes or signs of resolving the Iraqi political crisis. This belief is reinforced after new leaks indicated that al-Sadr anticipated a new Iranian movement, by informing those close to him of his apology for receiving anyone, before the end of the month’s deadline, which is supposed to end on June 15.
Al-Sadr announced in a brief statement on May 15, "the transition to the national opposition for a period of no less than thirty days." He pointed out that if "the parties and parliamentary blocs, including those we had the honor of allying with, the (Sunni and Kurdish Arab forces) succeed in forming the government, it will be blessed, otherwise we will have another decision to announce at the time."
Al-Sadr does not want to discuss the political crisis before his opponents expire
During the past two weeks, al-Sadr's bloc in parliament, or the "Sadr movement" in general, did not show any activity or movement in opposition to the government, because of what al-Sadr adopted, who, according to a source close to him, refused "to meet with any Iraqi or foreign figure during this period who wants to discuss the crisis."
The same source confirmed to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that "Al-Sadr anticipates an Iranian movement, behind which is the new Iranian ambassador, Muhammad Al-Sadeq , by informing his office of an apology for not meeting the personalities who wish to discuss the political crisis."
He added that "the political body of the Sadrist movement headed by Hassan al-Adhari, did not conduct any negotiations or meetings in the past two weeks, after informing all political parties, al-Sadr adhered to the option of the national majority government, and refused to confiscate the right to form a government from the Sadrist movement."
Al-Sadr refused to meet any Iraqi or foreign figure who wants to discuss the crisis
As for after the 15-day deadline expires, the same source said that "there will be a new movement for the Sadrist movement towards various political parties to present its vision in forming the new government, and the reason for its insistence not to repeat the Al-Attar mixture that formed 7 previous governments and did not increase Iraqis but misery." , As he says.
And the source considered that "the continued inability to form the government in the form that the Sadrist movement insists on, makes the issue of dissolving Parliament and going to new elections or granting Mustafa Al-Kazemi's government some powers to run the country's affairs as options."
There is no solution in sight to the Iraqi political crisis
Commenting on this, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Mahdi Abdul Karim, said in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that "all previous initiatives to resolve the crisis failed and became a thing of the past, and currently there is no solution in sight to the crisis."
He added that "the constant is the cohesion of the National Salvation Alliance , between the Sadrists and the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Alliance of Sovereignty, and the refusal of the latter two parties to go to form a government with the coordinating framework without the presence of the Sadrist movement."
Mahdi Abdul Karim: The Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Alliance of Sovereignty refuse to form a government with the coordinating framework without the Sadrist movement
Abdul Karim spoke about "a movement in the Kurdistan region to resolve the dispute within the Kurdish house between the two main parties (the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) over the presidency of the republic." He considered that "in the event that a decisive solution is reached in this regard, it is likely that it will reflect positively on the political scene in Baghdad ."
Abdul Karim revealed that "during the last period, we were offered many temptations to leave the Sadrist movement, and we rejected all of them. We were also subjected to many threats and pressures to retreat from Sadr's support or break the alliance with him."
The "coordinating framework" is not concerned with the chest timeout
For his part, a member of the "Coordination Framework" coalition, supported by Tehran, MP Ali Al-Fatlawi, said that they are not interested in Al-Sadr's repeated deadlines. He added to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that "all deadlines are unconstitutional and have no legal basis. Rather, they are against constitutional timings that must be respected by all political blocs and parties."
Al-Fatlawi said, "Al-Sadr's announcement that he would go to the opposition was not clear. Until this moment, we have not seen any role for the Sadrist movement as a parliamentary opposition, as it was announced more than two weeks ago."
The same spokesman suggested that "nothing will change in the scene after the end of the thirty-day deadline set by al-Sadr," adding that "we may witness the announcement of a new, unconstitutional deadline for al-Sadr, especially as these deadlines deepen the dispute and do not give any signs of ending the political blockage."
He concluded by saying that "the position of the coordination framework is consistent with regard to the formation of a consensus government that preserves the right of the largest (Shiite) component to form it exclusively through it, otherwise there is no participation in any government being sought by the Triple Alliance."
Al-Fatlawi: The position of the coordination framework is firm regarding the formation of a consensus government
For his part, Ali Al-Baydar, an expert in Iraqi political affairs, said in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that "any expected political solution will not happen without an understanding between the Sadrist movement and the coordination framework, which is not showing signs yet."
He added that "both the Sadrist movement and the coordination framework, during the last period, and by giving deadlines from time to time, tried to win over the independents with the aim of giving each party a win in the current conflict, and completing a quorum for the election session of the new president of the republic or preventing it from being held." He pointed out that "the two parties were not able to resolve the support of all the independents, as the division between these independent representatives themselves was reflected in the two opponents as well."
Al-Bdeir considered that "after the end of Al-Sadr's deadline, we may witness a popular escalation by the Sadrist movement's audience, with the aim of putting pressure on the political forces and pushing them towards forming a majority government, especially after Al-Sadr announced that he would take the role of the opposition." He added, "This is what some political forces fear, especially the independent forces, that could go with the tripartite alliance as a result of the street's pressure on them."
The unprecedented political crisis continues in Iraq for nearly seven months, following the holding of the early legislative elections last October, which resulted in the victory of the Sadrist movement by a wide margin over its closest rivals from the "coordinating framework" forces.
Al-Sadr, who succeeded in attracting Sunni Arab and Kurdish political forces within a cross-sectarian alliance (Saving a Homeland), insists on forming a national majority government. On the other hand, the forces supported by Tehran within the "coordination framework", which consists of several blocs, most notably the "State of Law" led by Nuri al-Maliki, and "Al-Fath" led by Hadi al-Amiri, want to form a consensual government similar to previous governments based on the quota approach within state institutions, according to For sectarian weights, not electoral.
An unexpected visit.. The Chinese ambassador visits the headquarters of the Iraqi Communist Party and meets Fahmy and Al-Halfi
Comrade Raed Fahmy, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Iraqi Communist Party, received yesterday (Tuesday May 31, 2022) at the party's headquarters in Baghdad, Mr. Cui Wei, the new ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Iraq, and his accompanying delegation.
His Excellency the Ambassador expressed his happiness to meet with the Iraqi Communist Party and the keenness of the Republic of China to develop its relations with Iraq and develop cooperation in various fields, in building Iraq’s economy, developing its industry and agriculture, and enabling it to advance in all fields. He stressed that these relations are not aimed at achieving profits, as much as they are support for Iraq and its people. He stressed that China respects people's choices and their freedom to choose their own path of development.
The ambassador also expressed keenness to maintain regular relations and relations with the Iraqi Communist Party and to develop them at various levels.
For his part, comrade Raed Fahmy affirmed the party's keenness to build relations with the Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, and to strengthen relations of cooperation between the two parties, peoples and two countries.
He pointed out that the Iraqi Communist Party realizes the importance of China, its role and its experience, and that this experience contains a lot of experiences and lessons that can be learned from in our country.
Comrade Fahmy gave a presentation on the developments in our country and the party's positions on them.
The two parties agreed to continue meetings and in-depth research on various aspects.
In the reception of the visiting delegation, along with comrade Raed Fahmy, were comrades Jassem Al-Halfi and Khalil Al-Moussawi, members of the party's foreign relations committee.
Iraq's revenues from selling oil last May 11.4 billion dollars.
link
Today, Wednesday, the Ministry of Oil announced that the revenues achieved during the month of May amounted to more than 11 billion dollars .
A statement by the ministry stated, "The total amount of crude oil exports is (102) million and (303) thousand and (20) barrels, with revenues amounting to (11.436) billion dollars ."
The statement added, "The total quantities exported of crude oil for the month of May from oil fields in central and southern Iraq amounted to (98) million (946) thousand and (914) barrels, while from Kirkuk fields through Ceyhan port, the exported quantities amounted to (3) (Millions and (2) thousand and (133) barrels) .
He pointed out that "the average daily quantities amounted to (3) million and (300) thousand barrels per day," noting that "the average price of one barrel amounted to more than (111,79) dollars ."
We have complete information.” A deputy talks about a “scenario“ ”.of new protests and factions targeting party headquarters
Today, Wednesday, Representative, Aid Al-Hilali, announced the existence of a scenario with the start of demonstrations, and the training of an armed brigade in .the Kurdistan region, to target the headquarters of the factions and parties
Al-Hilali told (Baghdad Today), "The armed faction is present in the region, and the Secretary-General of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, Sheikh Qais al-Khazali, has revealed information about him, noting that, "The Resistance Coordination has sufficient ".information about the armed faction that is training in the region He added, "We have information about the reasons for this faction's work and what it ".will do if demonstrations start in the south or elsewhere, as planned
Al-Hilali had revealed on the 29th of last month the presence of an armed faction training in the region for the purpose of taking to the streets to target the headquarters of the factions and some parties, among other scenarios represented by the presence of other groups that will go out with demonstrations to provoke the . situation in Iraq
Due to the decrease in Iranian gas flows... Electricity announces a decrease in the hours of energy supply
The Ministry of Electricity announced, on Wednesday, a decrease in production and processing hours due to the cutting off of about five million cubic meters of Iranian gas.
In a statement, the Ministry of Electricity received a copy of it (May 1, 2022), that "based on its professional duties and the great responsibility entrusted to it, the Ministry of Electricity strives to provide optimal processing hours for citizens, but due to the reduction of five million cubic meters of the amount of gas The Iranian supplier, this necessarily led to limiting the loads of the system, and thus was a reason to reduce the hours of supplying electric power.”
The ministry added, "We indicated earlier that the Iranian side had demanded the payment of financial obligations for gas dues from the Iraqi side, and with the delay in approving the general budget, and the search for an alternative solution to the Food Security Law, this is the reason for the reluctance that we mentioned earlier."
The ministry indicated that "this pushes us with greater care, amid real parliamentary and governmental efforts, for the Ministry of Electricity to communicate with the Iranian side to reach satisfactory compromise solutions to pay dues and continue pumping gas, without this leading to a deterioration in the quality of energy services and harming the interests of citizens."
Earlier, the parliamentary energy and electricity committees held a meeting to discuss electrical energy problems in the face of summer.
And the Media Department of the House of Representatives stated in a statement received by “Nass”, a copy of it, (May 29, 2022), that “the Parliamentary Electricity and Energy Committee held a meeting headed by Representative Khaled al-Samarrai, head of the age, and the presence of its members on Sunday, 29/5/2022, regarding hosting the Minister of Electricity, About the ministry's plan to face the summer and develop electricity to come up with recommendations.
According to the statement, "The Head of the Age of the Electricity Committee reviewed the problems facing the electric current and proposed solutions that address the increasing demand for energy, adding the need to rationalize consumption and address slums to equip all areas and poor groups with electricity," noting that "it is a civilized and human phenomenon."
The media department added that "the committee also discussed setting a vision about the problems that electrical energy suffers from, as well as discussing the issue of the solar energy system and the possibility of using it in production, in addition to forming sub-committees and distributing their tasks, and coordinating with the Oil Committee to follow up the interrelated work between the two committees and the summary to the outputs."
Dissolving the Iraqi parliament may not happen, but escalation is a possibility
In early April, the head of the Iraqi Judicial Council, Faiq Zeidan, published an article on the constitutional problem with the delay in electing the president of the republic and forming the government. He said at the time that the dissolution of Parliament, as a way out of the crisis, is a parliamentary decision issued by the executive authorities, and this cannot happen now.
Now, a month after this article, Iraqi politicians are volunteering a lawsuit before the Federal Court demanding the dissolution of the House of Representatives, which means going to other early elections. The lawsuit seemed strange, because Judge Zaidan had previously answered about its atmosphere, and it came within a context of political actions against the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr.
These days, Iraqi experts and politicians are circulating that al-Sadr's angry speech, in which he waved "unwelcome consequences as a result of the judiciary's harmony with disgraceful political actions", contributed to raising concern about the leader of the Sadrist movement, and creating more alignment against him. With this alignment, the coordinating framework reached a state of political anger, which prompted it to leak its position aimed at confronting al-Sadr, a confrontation that would launch, if it occurred, an internal war.
If the leader of the Badr Organization, Hadi al-Amiri, denies the possibility of internal fighting, the charged atmosphere is expressed by bloggers from both camps. Sadr's "Peace Brigades" faction opens the door for young fighters to volunteer, while leaders from the framework are knocking on the door of the clans asking about mobilization "in defense" of their project. Al-Amiri may be correct in excluding the fighting, but the scenarios proposed by the two parties establish the beginnings of lawlessness that culminates in political and constitutional obstruction, as the Sadrist movement is preparing for millions of anti-framework demonstrations, and perhaps a charismatic sit-in tent for Sadr at the doors of the Iraqi parliament, and on the other side he will not be the leader of “Asa’ib.” Qais al-Khazali, the leader of the "State of Law" coalition, Nuri al-Maliki, and the rest of the faction leaders are convinced that containing al-Sadr with initiatives is the most appropriate option to deal with him. The crisis may come out into an open domain, without rules of engagement.
Al-Sadr, who calls his next move on the street a “white revolution, without blood,” sees, as his environment says, that the struggle over government formation has transcended the criteria of election results and political weight, and turned into a confrontation with opponents who engaged in complex alliances that were in harmony with the Iraqi judiciary. The Sadrists see More than that, the keys to obstruction gained by the framework were handed flexibly by President Barham Salih.
These anti-Sadr alliances are going through their most active political situation, and although the probability of success of the lawsuit to dissolve parliament is weak, the judiciary is busy with hundreds of similar lawsuits, which impose a stifling siege on Al-Hananah, and may push its leader to escalate further
Parliamentary: We must go to the option of dissolving the House of Representatives in this case
MP from the State of Law coalition, Alia Nassif, said on Wednesday that if the election of the president of the republic and the formation of the government are not completed, "we must go to the option of dissolving parliament."
Nassif added in an interview with the official "Al-Sabah" newspaper, which was followed by "Mawazine News", that "the continuation of the current situation means the continuation of the caretaker government, deficient in powers restricted and governed by the decision of the Federal Court and an internal system, and she criticizes any action she takes, so if this obstruction remains, let us go to dissolution of Parliament.
And she continued, "There is a call before the Federal Court to challenge the legitimacy of the House of Representatives and call for its dissolution because it violated the decisions of the Federal Court or that it was unable to complete the vote on the President of the Republic in order to end the government's work and choose a new government."
The government reverses its decision and re-closes the Green Zone
Today, Wednesday, the government closed the Green Zone after seven in the evening, reversing its decision to open it to pedestrians around the .clock The (Baghdad Today) reporter stated that, the security forces re-closed the entrances to the Green Zone after seven o'clock in the evening, after the government's recent .decision to open it He added, "The roads leading to it witnessed traffic congestion and queues of .wheels, after pedestrians were surprised by the closure of the road
Iraq is the fastest growing Arab country .. Why is this not ?reflected on the people
Unusually, Iraq recorded positive economic indicators in the past weeks, as Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Allawi confirmed that the country's cash reserves are expected to rise to more than 90 billion dollars by the end of 2022, noting that this level is a record for Iraq, in the meantime.
The International Monetary Fund expected the Iraqi economy to grow by 9.5% this year, to be the .highest in the Arab world The Iraqi minister considered that the recovery in oil prices and the financial management, which he described as "wise", helped the reserves reach the level of 70 billion dollars last April, after the country's foreign exchange reserves decreased to an alarming level in 2020 when the Corona .pandemic caused in the collapse of global oil prices
Reasons for growth
These positive figures for the Iraqi economy raise questions about their causes, as the appearance of Muhammad Salih, the economic advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister, in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, indicates that the high volume of cash reserves in the country is due to the rise in global oil prices, with an estimated increase on average between 40% and 45% over last .year
Saleh added that the Iraqi government relies on oil to pay internal expenses after replacing it with the local Iraqi currency according to the dinar exchange rate issued by the Central Bank, .which is equivalent to 1460 dinars per dollar Consequently, since the external financial flows are greater than the volume of internal spending, which adopts a ratio of 1 to 12 according to the decision of the financial administration due to the failure to approve the country’s federal budget, this led to the accumulation of foreign .exchange at the Central Bank and an increase in the volume of reserves, as he put it
And about the positives, he explained that the volume of foreign exchange is close to covering the value of the Iraqi currency and the volume of currency circulating locally, which constitutes a stabilizing factor for the dinar, which helps to face inflation inside the country due to the .repercussions of the continuation of the Russian-Ukrainian war
?Is it real growth
The data of the International Monetary Fund raise many questions about whether the growth of the Iraqi economy is real, especially with regard to the stability of the national currency, and in this regard, the financial expert Mahmoud Dagher says that the high growth rate in Iraq is currently due to the emergence of the oil sector as the only source of economic added value, .While the non-oil economic sectors are declining
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Dagher explains that the economic growth announced by the International Monetary Fund is considered growth for the oil sector and not for the real Iraqi economy, and without the oil sector, Iraq will not record any real growth at such a percentage .announced by the Fund
He added that the rise in the reserves of the Central Bank of Iraq is not a complete indicator of the economic situation, explaining that the volume of reserves does not cover the volume of Iraqi cash, which amounted to 80 trillion dinars, and therefore the proportion of the volume of reserves is less than it was two years ago when the size of the Iraqi monetary bloc was approximately 60 trillion dinars, explaining that the current reserves provide a sufficient volume .of liquidity to import from abroad without providing financial stability for the local currency
And this opinion goes to Professor of Economics at the Iraqi University Abdul Rahman AlMashhadani, who says that the increase in the volume of central bank reserves is due to the difference in the ratio between Iraq’s imports in dollars and what the Iraqi government sells in the currency auction, explaining that Iraqi imports amounted to 8 billion dollars per month, while .the currency auction It sells a total of $4.5 billion per month
Its reflection on the Iraqis
Despite this economic boom revealed by the numbers, the Iraqis are wondering about the reasons that prevent this from being reflected on the Iraqi people, who suffer from high rates of inflation, poverty and unemployment. Public finances after the expiry of more than 5 months of .the fiscal year
Because of this, according to Al-Mashhadani, a problem arose for the government in how it handled the financial surplus, commenting that the Iraqi government had limited employment in the public sector since 2014 in light of the fact that the private sector has many problems and depends heavily on the public sector, as well as He stated that the recently approved law criminalizing normalization with Israel includes legal articles that will cause great harm to foreign .investment in Iraq, which will increase economic difficulties, according to it
And financial expert Mahmoud Dagher adds other reasons, which are that Iraq is witnessing political problems that hinder the formation of the government and the approval of the country's general budget, which means a crisis in dealing with the Iraqi economy, which prevents Iraqis .from benefiting from the large financial returns
As for the former member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Ahmed Hama Rashid, he believes that the main reason for Iraqis not benefiting from the financial abundance is due to the lack of productive economy growth inside the country, which is the main driver of internal growth due to the provision of job opportunities, pointing out that Iraq is witnessing an increase in financial revenues with The continued decline of the productive economy, according to his .opinion
Rashid adds to Al Jazeera Net that there is no productive sector that contributed to the increase in the growth rate announced by the International Monetary Fund, and therefore Iraq can buy US treasury bonds or any other country with a small profit margin without being able to invest money internally, describing economic growth as a "bubble." economic”, which leads to Iraq .remaining among the countries with a fragile economy unless it addresses its structural problems
As for the government, the appearance of Muhammad Salih, economic advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister, believes that there are no positive repercussions in the Iraqi street unless the country’s general budget is approved, which includes social and investment expenditures, especially since it is hoped that the value of the country’s general budget, if approved, will reach 200 trillion dinars, .equivalent to $136 billion, up from $90 billion in the 2021 budget
And the Iraqis remain hostages of political positions that keep them from benefiting from the large financial revenues that Iraq has enjoyed, especially with the rise in oil prices and the .increase in the volume of Iraqi oil exports to a record level in the past months
Apple Moves Part Of IPad Production From China To Vietnam
The technology giant Apple has decided to move part of the production of its famous iPad from China to Vietnam, amid disruptions in the supply chain due to strict closures in and around Shanghai.
And asia.nikkei reported that Apple has asked component suppliers to increase stocks to protect against future shortages and the resulting supply bottlenecks.
For its part, the Chinese company "BYD" helped Apple build production lines in Vietnam, which may allow it to start soon producing a small number of popular tablets there.
With this step, the iPad manufacturing line becomes Apple's second main line of products in Vietnam, after the AirPods production chain, which shows the company's direction to diversify its supply chains, and highlights the growing importance of Vietnam for it.
Earlier, Apple announced the production of its latest smartphone "iPhone 13" in India, at the factory of "Foxconn", the contract manufacturing partner near Chennai.
"We are excited to start manufacturing the iPhone 13 here in India for our local customers," Apple told The Economic Times of India.
Apple has begun shifting some areas of iPhone production from China to other markets, including India, which is the second largest smartphone market in the world, and is also planning to assemble the iPad tablet computer there, according to Reuters.
Apple has started manufacturing iPhone phones in India since 2017, beginning with the iPhone SE, which was followed by the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and now the iPhone 13.
A list of the Iraqi dinar exchange rate against the dollar on the Iraqi Stock Exchange for today, Wednesday (June 1, 2022), according to specialists.
Baghdad - the stock exchange
148,150
The price in most exchanges
147,750
148,500
Favorite Currencies Forex Quotes
| Symbol | Bid | Ask | High | Low | Open | Change | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD/IQD |  1427.2000 |  1483.2000 | 1457.4000 | 1457.3000 | 1457.3000 | 0.5000 | 11:52 |
| USD/VND | 23196.0000 | 23206.0000 | 23196.1900 | 23195.1500 | 23196.0100 | -0.9700 | 01:49 |
| USD/CNY |  6.6851 | 6.6871 | 6.6975 | 6.6688 | 6.6715 | 0.0136 | 05:09 |
| USD/KWD | 0.3056 | 0.3066 | 0.3058 | 0.3057 | 0.3058 | -0.0001 | 05:08 |
| GBP/USD | 1.2599 | 1.2599 | 1.2616 | 1.2572 | 1.2599 | 0.0000 | 05:09 |
| USD/IRR | 42000.0000 | 42600.0000 | 42325.0000 | 42301.7000 | 42325.0000 | -13.8000 | 12:19 |
| USD/IDR | 14522.0000 | 14543.0000 | 14562.0000 | 14530.0000 | 14541.0000 | -4.0000 | 05:09 |
MISJUDGED INFLATION THREAT
YELLEN ADMITS
SUDDEN URGENCY
PUMP PRICE ANOTHER HIGH
GALLUP: PESSIMISM GROWING
Iraq's revenues from selling oil last May 11.4 billion dollars.
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Today, Wednesday, the Ministry of Oil announced that the revenues achieved during the month of May amounted to more than 11 billion dollars .
A statement by the ministry stated, "The total amount of crude oil exports is (102) million and (303) thousand and (20) barrels, with revenues amounting to (11.436) billion dollars ."
The statement added, "The total quantities exported of crude oil for the month of May from oil fields in central and southern Iraq amounted to (98) million (946) thousand and (914) barrels, while from Kirkuk fields through Ceyhan port, the exported quantities amounted to (3) (Millions and (2) thousand and (133) barrels) .
He pointed out that "the average daily quantities amounted to (3) million and (300) thousand barrels per day," noting that "the average price of one barrel amounted to more than (111,79) dollars ."
Political sources: the coordinating framework agreed to Sadr's conditions, and a new government will see the light soon
Political sources in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, stated that the forces of the "coordinating framework" were subject to the conditions of the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, with regard to the file of forming a government, and it is scheduled that these forces will present a new initiative, to end the political blockage, and proceed with the path of forming a government. new.
Since the parliamentary elections were held on the tenth of last October, the Iraqi political forces have been unable to form the new government, due to the desire of the “Save the Homeland” coalition led by the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, to form a government of a “national majority,” while the coordinating framework forces seek to A "consensual" government.
During the past few days, the atmosphere seemed calmer between the two sides, as a political source said, "The coordinating framework forces agreed to al-Sadr's conditions to proceed in the path of forming a national majority government, but in return, they are seeking to ally with him, (albeit formally), with the aim of Preserving the (Shiite House), an option that al-Sadr does not seem to oppose, as long as the result is to remove these factions from the file of state administration.”
The source, who declined to be named, added that “the coordinating framework forces have reached a good stage of negotiation, and agreed in principle to the issue of the majority government, and to end its boycott of parliament sessions, but they want the option of the prime minister to remain, exclusively within the Shiite house, and the agreement is internally on it.” And then proceed to put it before the other political blocs,” noting that “the members of the Sadrist movement, during the recent negotiations, saw this proposal as not opposing what they wanted from a majority government that would bear the responsibility of running the country for the next four years.”
Huge pressures
During the past months, al-Sadr, through his alliance, "Save the Homeland", exerted tremendous pressure on the forces of the coordination framework, with the aim of forming a national majority government that would bear the responsibility of managing the country, with the other blocs going to the opposition.
In turn, a member of the "coordinating framework", Naim al-Aboudi, revealed part of the details of the new initiative, noting that "the issue of the prime ministership was entrusted to the Sadrist movement, provided that the forces of the coordination framework have the right to object."
Al-Aboudi added in a television statement: “We told the Sadrist movement: Let us as Shiites meet, and the Sadrist bloc has the right to present the prime minister’s candidate, and the framework has the right to veto the candidate if he does not want it, and we then announce going to the opposition, but they had another vision.” He pointed out that "there are realistic possibilities for the political parties, and we expect a rapprochement between the framework and the Sadrist bloc in the coming days."
The political circles hope to end this blockage and to proceed with the process of completing the three presidencies, after the recent negotiations, amid anticipation for the announcement of the new initiative.
In this context, a member of the State of Law coalition, Wael Al-Rikabi, said that "the new initiative is not clear, but what is being talked about now is the willingness of the coordinating framework forces to negotiate, and its condition is the formation of (the most numerous Shiite bloc)".
Al-Rikabi believes that "this readiness indicates that the framework can make concessions in order to get out of the current political impasse, and this can only come through dialogue, which calls for concessions from other parties."
Observers of the Iraqi affairs believe that the rapprochement between the two Kurdish parties in the Kurdistan region has motivated the rest of the parties to hold new consultations, as Kurdish circles hope to agree on one candidate for the presidency to be agreed upon internally.
The President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, announced during his visit to Sulaymaniyah last week, that common ground had been reached between the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Massoud Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan led by Bafel Talabani.
Based on this visit, the two parties held an expanded meeting in Erbil province, last Wednesday, in the presence of Barzani and Talabani, with the aim of holding consultations on forming the government and the position of the presidency.
7 months into the crisis
in this regard, political analyst Falah Al-Dhahabi believes that “the blockage in the Kurdish-Kurdish relationship is about to end, and a high-level delegation from the Kurdistan region will go to Najaf to resolve the Shiite situation, which is now closer to a solution, if the National Union agrees, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
But the Iraqi analyst puts forward another scenario during which “Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi and the President of the Republic, Barham Salih, remain, to end this year or the middle of next year, with a change of a number of ministers, and perhaps after elections, or during this period, constitutional amendments are made to help the court.” Federal, and this is subject to future consultations, and the possibility of political forces reaching real solutions.”
The government formation crisis is approaching its seventh month, in one of the longest crises since the formation of previous governments after 2003.
Dissolving the Iraqi parliament may not happen, but escalation is a possibility
In early April, the head of the Iraqi Judicial Council, Faiq Zeidan, published an article on the constitutional problem with the delay in electing the president of the republic and forming the government. He said at the time that the dissolution of Parliament, as a way out of the crisis, is a parliamentary decision issued by the executive authorities, and this cannot happen now.
Now, a month after this article, Iraqi politicians are volunteering a lawsuit before the Federal Court demanding the dissolution of the House of Representatives, which means going to other early elections. The lawsuit seemed strange, because Judge Zaidan had previously answered about its atmosphere, and it came within a context of political actions against the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr.
These days, Iraqi experts and politicians are circulating that al-Sadr's angry speech, in which he waved "unwelcome consequences as a result of the judiciary's harmony with disgraceful political actions", contributed to raising concern about the leader of the Sadrist movement, and creating more alignment against him. With this alignment, the coordinating framework reached a state of political anger, which prompted it to leak its position aimed at confronting al-Sadr, a confrontation that would launch, if it occurred, an internal war.
If the leader of the Badr Organization, Hadi al-Amiri, denies the possibility of internal fighting, the charged atmosphere is expressed by bloggers from both camps. Sadr's "Peace Brigades" faction opens the door for young fighters to volunteer, while leaders from the framework are knocking on the door of the clans asking about mobilization "in defense" of their project. Al-Amiri may be correct in excluding the fighting, but the scenarios proposed by the two parties establish the beginnings of lawlessness that culminates in political and constitutional obstruction, as the Sadrist movement is preparing for millions of anti-framework demonstrations, and perhaps a charismatic sit-in tent for Sadr at the doors of the Iraqi parliament, and on the other side he will not be the leader of “Asa’ib.” Qais al-Khazali, the leader of the "State of Law" coalition, Nuri al-Maliki, and the rest of the faction leaders are convinced that containing al-Sadr with initiatives is the most appropriate option to deal with him. The crisis may come out into an open domain, without rules of engagement.
Al-Sadr, who calls his next move on the street a “white revolution, without blood,” sees, as his environment says, that the struggle over government formation has transcended the criteria of election results and political weight, and turned into a confrontation with opponents who engaged in complex alliances that were in harmony with the Iraqi judiciary. The Sadrists see More than that, the keys to obstruction gained by the framework were handed flexibly by President Barham Salih.
These anti-Sadr alliances are going through their most active political situation, and although the probability of success of the lawsuit to dissolve parliament is weak, the judiciary is busy with hundreds of similar lawsuits, which impose a stifling siege on Al-Hananah, and may push its leader to escalate further
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