Iraqi CP condemns violent suppression of peaceful demonstration in Baghdad

11 February 2017

Statement of the Political Bureau of the Iraqi Communist Party

We condemn violence against demonstrators

 and demand those responsible be brought to account

This morning, Saturday 11 February 2017, thousands of our Iraqi people rallied in a peaceful demonstration in Tahrir (Liberation) Square in central Baghdad. Their statements, slogans and chants expressed their determination to continue their march on the path of reform and change and combating corruption. Demonstrators demanded the dissolution of the Electoral Commission and the formation of a new commission that is truly independent, away from the quota system, ensuring that the candidates for its board of trustees are characterized by integrity, credibility, professionalism and impartiality. They also called upon the parliament to legislate a fair and equitable election law that expands participation in decision-making, is non-exclusionary, does not impose the hegemony and domination of certain forces and blocs, and protects the voice of the voters and safeguards their will in choosing their representatives.

Unfortunately, these demands and appeals throughout the past period were not heeded by the ruling forces that resorted to procrastination, under various pretexts. As a result, protests have continued and widened, with diverse demands, including various social strata and spreading to several provinces and cities.

Rather than complying and taking concrete measures to achieve reform, and proceeding ahead toward its objectives as demanded by the masses, and without learning the lessons of previous painful experiences, the demonstrators were confronted without warning with live ammunition, as well as the heavy use of rubber bullets and tear gas, at a time when the demonstrators were loudly chanting "Peaceful ... Peaceful". This excessive and extensive use of violence led to a number of fatalities among the demonstrators in addition to dozens wounded, victims of rubber bullets and tear gas. This reflects the deliberate use of excessive force and cruelty which is totally unjustified.

We condemn, in the strongest words, the use of force and violence in dealing with peaceful demonstrations that are guaranteed by the law and the Constitution and that are making just demands.  We hold the Prime Minister directly responsible for this, being the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. He must immediately reveal the identity of those who gave the orders to shoot and use violence in contravention of his directives to the security forces to protect the demonstrators. An investigative committee must be set up that should include in its membership representatives of the protesters or judges acting on their behalf.

The consequences of what has happened today must not be dealt with as it has in the past, because this will deepen the divide between citizens and state agencies and institutions, and will aggravate the atmosphere of mistrust at a time when there is desperate need for building it on the basis of transparency, credibility and support for the just and peaceful demands of the people.

We express full solidarity with the families of the martyrs, wishing the injured a speedy recovery. We are certain and confident that bullets, whether they are live or rubber, will not weaken the will of the people and their yearning for a better life.

Baghdad - 11 February 2017

Iraqi Communist Party statement about government decisions in response to mass protests

Iraqi Communist Party statement about the decisions taken by the Iraqi government in response to mass protests against corruption 

Iraqi Communist Party:  A Positive Step which must be Consolidated and Completed

The Political Bureau of the Iraqi Communist Party issued the following statement on 9 August 2015 with regard to the decisions announced by the Council of Ministers headed  by Haider al-Abadi in response to the growing mass protests in Baghdad and 8 other provinces against rampant corruption and lack of electricity and basic services: 

The Council of Ministers announced today a number of decisions that deserve to be welcomed. They come in response to the wishes of millions of Iraqis and reflect an interaction with the protest demonstrations that swept Iraq's cities and involved hundreds of thousands of our people, demanding the provision of services, exposure of corruption, holding to account the corrupt, condemnation of mismanagement and power-sharing, and consolidating the confrontation of terrorism.

The decisions that relate to austerity measures are aimed at putting an end to the illegal privileges, cutting costs, reducing allocations and salaries of senior government officials, eliminating posts that are based on favoritism, reducing the security detail of senior officials and directing the surplus to strengthen the forces of the defense and interior ministries, re-opening the cases of corruption and speeding up bringing the corrupt to account, and retrieving public funds from those who stole them. All this represents a sound beginning. In order for this beginning to be fruitful and be realized on the ground, and not remain only promises and pledges as many previous similar measures have been, the following is required:

- Complementing the stated decisions by taking additional measures that would turn this first step into a steadfast and firm orientation that includes all aspects of the state and society. These should extend to including the protection of the country's economy from the parasitic mafias inside state institutions and outside, which are an extension and an ally of the bureaucracy of government officials and its administrative organs, who have amassed billions by looting, manipulation and deceit, and through bribes, mediation, “commissions”, in business transactions, contracts, financial and banking business and in suspicious trade.

- Developing effective mechanisms and the creation of a healthy atmosphere so that these measures make their way to speedy implementation and without delay. This will deprive evil elements the opportunity to obstruct and circumvent them and empty them of their real content. This requires appointing efficient, fair and professional bodies for oversight and implementation in order to get the job done efficiently and on time.

- Reliance on popular will to support every positive step, in order to paralyze the will of the obstructionists among parasitic elements, the merchants of pain and wars, profiteering thieves, the hypocrites of opportunistic politicians and allies of mafias. This should be the starting point for supporting the national armed forces with all its formations in confronting terrorism and Daesh (ISIS).

- Adopting a political approach that is consistent with the magnitude of the process of true reform and its importance and difficulty. This is summarized in destabilizing the sectarian-ethnic power-sharing system and putting an end to it, along with the misleading plans produced by it that ensure the distribution of the spoils among its beneficiaries, rather than weakening and getting rid of it (such as the so-called “balancing” measures, the monopoly of governmental posts, special exceptions .. etc.).

- Urging the Parliament to finish the legislation of all the urgent laws, and activating the ones that are suspended (the Service Law, the Social Security Law, the laws contained in the Political Document [that was the basis for the formation of Abadi’s government], amending the Election Law, legislation of the Parties Law.. etc.). This will provide a favorable legislative climate to pave the way for the process of change and reform, paralyze any effort or attempt to put obstacles in front of this urgent need through contrived complexities and worn-out disputes that have so far played a role in blocking any reform effort and serving the interests of the protectors of corruption and the corrupt.

The eyes of our people, men and women, old and young, of all ethnicities, religions and sects, and with different intellectual and political orientations, will remain open. Their presence in the squares, the arenas for the expression of the legitimate demands, will continue in support of all the positive measures and in backing for all the goodwill efforts that are aimed at putting Iraq on the path of true democracy and social justice, to defeat terrorism and corruption, so as to ensure security, stability, a dignified life and decent standard of living and of services, and remove all impediments to joining mankind’s civilized march, and building their own federal, independent and sovereign civil democratic state.

The Political Bureau - Iraqi Communist Party

9 August 2015

Iraqi CP considers Provincial Elections Law unfair to minorities

Iraqi Communist Party considers Provincial Elections Law
unfair to minorities

Mufid al-Jazairy, Member of Parliament, said that the Iraqi Communist Party did not support the proposal of some political blocs to allocate only 6 seats for minorities in the provincial councils, during the parliament session last Monday, 3-11-2008.

Jazairy, who is a member of Iraqi CP's Political Bureau, said in a statement given to the party central organ "Tareeq Al-Shaab" (People's Path), that "the party considered the proposal to be unfair to small national and religious components of the Iraqi society."

He explained that the party had called on the parliament to adopt the proposal put forward by the United Nations, describing it as being balanced. He said that the UN proposal "ensures fair representation for the national and religious minorities in the provincial councils of Baghdad, Mosul and Basra."

Jazairy added that "the supporters of the adopted proposal refused to give the representatives of minorities 12 seats out of about 450 seats, as they considered that to be too many, and instead cut the number by half."

The head of the UN Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), Staffan de Mistura, had made a proposal that there should be 12 seats allocated to representatives of minorities in provincial councils.

Jazairy expressed his regret that proposal put forward by Iraqi CP leader Hamid Majeed Mousa (also a member of parliament) was not adopted during consultations between the political blocs. He said: "In an attempt to address the problem, comrade Mousa proposed that the 12 seats, allocated to representatives of minorities, be considered additional seats, excluded from the number already allocated to each provincial council."

Jazairy explained that the Iraqi CP's rejection of the proposal approved by the Parliament stems from its consistent position, in support of the minorities and their cultural and administrative rights. "It is a position that has always been adhered to by the Party, throughout 75 years of its history," he said.

Source: "Tareeq Al-Shaab" (People's Path), central organ of the Iraqi Communist Party, 5-11-2008.

Iraq sets January deadline for provincial election

Iraq sets January deadline for provincial election

24 September 2008

BAGHDAD (AFP) — The Iraqi parliament finally passed a provincial election law on Wednesday, setting a January 31 deadline for a vote to allow more power to be handed to the country's divided communities.

Members of parliament agreed to a compromise that will exclude not only the disputed northern oil province of Kirkuk but also the whole of the northern Kurdistan region from the new legislation.

Kurdish factions, which lay historic claim to Kirkuk and its oil wealth, had put up the sternest resistance to earlier attempts to clear the way for provincial elections seen by the United States as a cornerstone of national reconciliation efforts after the sectarian bloodshed of recent years.

Parliament had been aiming to pass the legislation in time to hold the polls on October 1 in all 18 of Iraq's provinces but deep rifts between the Kurds and their Arab and Turkmen rivals over arrangements for the process in Kirkuk torpedoed any agreement before the summer recess.

MPs have now agreed to postpone the polls in Kirkuk and three northern provinces that already form part of the autonomous Kurdish region so that elections can be held in the other 14 provinces by January 31.

Elections in Kirkuk will not now be held until after March 2009 and the existing multi-communal council will continue to administer the province.

A committee consisting of two representatives each from its Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen communities and one from the Christian community will work to prepare the groundwork for the organisation of elections in Kirkuk.

The ousted Sunni Arab dominated regime of Saddam Hussein poured Arab settlers, both Sunni and Shiite, into the province in a bid to prevent its oil wealth falling into the hands of Kurdish rebels.

For Kurdish leaders, their insistence on Kirkuk being incorporated into their autonomous region was the main reason for their rejection of a peace deal with the Baghdad government in the early 1970s that saw them continue a rebellion in which hundreds of thousands of their people died.

Kurdish MPs have insisted that a new electoral register be compiled giving the vote only to those with a historic claim to residence in the province before elections be held in Kirkuk.

Under the terms of reference set by the new law, the new seven-member committee will report back to parliament in coordination with the United Nations by March 31 after reviewing the electoral roll with both the existing provincial council and the central government.

Passage of the compromise law by a majority of the 191 MPs present in the 275-seat assembly was immediately hailed by speaker Mahmud al-Mashhadani as an acceptance by the legislature's disparate factions of the wider national interest.

"The law is what the Iraqi people wanted, and not what the politicians wanted," said Mashhadani, a Sunni Arab Islamist who has frequently been outspoken in his criticism of the US-led occupation and the boost in power it has given to Washington's Kurdish and Shiite allies.

"This law shows our determination to reach an agreement, and that we are able to solve problems in a democratic way. Kirkuk was the source of troubles, but now it became a symbol of nationalism and agreement. It has united us."

Kurdish MPs give conditional approval to new provincial polls law

Kurdish MPs give conditional approval

to new provincial polls law - speaker

Voices of Iraq
BAGHDAD, Sept. 17 (VOI) - Iraq's parliament speaker on Wednesday said Kurdish lawmakers gave a hard approval to a proposal resolving the controversial provincial elections law in Kirkuk.

Deputies passed the provincial election law on July 22, but Kurdish MPs boycotted the session partly because the bill delayed voting in Kirkuk.The disagreement centers on article 24 of original draft legislation that would have divided power amongst the province's Arab, Kurds, and Turkmen communities, but is opposed by the Kurds on the basis of their superior numbers and historical claims to the city.

"The July 22 Group of MPs presented a proposal emanating from UN envoy paper and law article 24, which deputies from Kurdistan Coalition(KC) and Kurdistan's Islamic Union approved, yet they held the UN proposal conditional to making no further amendements", a parliament statement received by Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI) cited speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani as saying.

Earlier on Tuesday, al-Mashhadani said blocs reached a compromise on passing the provincial elections law, expecting its parliament's endorsement on Wednesday."

The KC has reservations over coalescing the UN envoy paper and law article 24, but was approved to reach a compromise, however any further amendments would result in new ones by the KC," the announcement quoted Fuad Massoum, the chief of the Kurdish bloc, as saying.

The announcement added parliament panel set up to resolve the controversy of provincial polls law would keep on meetings until reaching a compromise.

Iraq's political blocs have met in recent days to try to reach a compromise on the law, but they failed to reach any breakthroughs. The parliament decided to establish a special panel to overcome the controversial issue.

The law had been held up by a dispute over what to do about voting in multi-ethnic Kirkuk, where a dispute is simmering between Kurds who say the city should belong to the largely autonomous Kurdistan region and Arabs who want it to stay under central government authority. Arabs and Turkmen believe Kurds have stacked the city with Kurds since the downfall of Saddam in 2003 to try to tip the demographic balance in their favor in any vote.

Arabs encouraged to move there under Saddam Hussein's rule fear the vote will consolidate Kurdish power and they sought to postpone it, a proposal Kurdish politicians have rejected.

Parliament decided to postpone the vote and add another article that the Kurds found unacceptable: that each ethnic or sectarian group gets a set allocation of seats and voting is between individual candidates from those groups. Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen get 10 seats each. Minority Christians get two.

Washington has been urging a speedy provincial election, which it sees as a pillar of national reconciliation, but the poll is also proving a potential flashpoint for tensions.

Parliament to vote on elections law on Wednesday - speaker

Parliament to vote on elections law on Wednesday - speaker

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Tuesday , 16 /09 /2008

BAGHDAD, Sept. 16 (VOI) – Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said on Tuesday that the Parliament could vote on the controversial provincial council elections law on Wednesday, according to a media source.

“Al-Mashhadani unveiled during the session held today an agreement among parliamentary blocs to approve the law, noting that the law is most likely to be voted tomorrow,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI) on condition of anonymity.
On July 22, the Iraqi Parliament, with the approval of 127 deputies out of 140 who attended the session, passed the law on provincial council elections, which includes an article postponing the elections in the city of Kirkuk.
Lawmakers from the Kurdistan Coalition (KC) had withdrawn from the session in protest against Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani's decision to have a secret balloting over article 24 of the law, pertaining to the status of Kirkuk. Balloting over all the other paragraphs of the law, however, was open.
The Presidential Board, with the unanimity of President Jalal Talabani and his two deputies Adel Abdelmahdi and Tareq al-Hashimi, rejected the law in a rapid reaction one day after the Iraqi Parliament passed it during a session that raised hue and cry over its constitutionality.
The law drew angry reactions from the Kurds, who considered the way the law was passed as a "twisting of the constitution," threatening to use the right of veto, granted by the Iraqi constitution for the Presidential Board, headed by President Talabani, a Kurd, to reject the law and return it to the Parliament for debate.
The law on provincial council elections, which is seen as supplementary to the law on regions and non-regional provinces, which was approved by the Parliament in February, has sparked heated controversy among political blocs.
The law specifies the system of government in Iraq, and if applied, a federal system may be established in the country with three separate regions, a call echoed by some Iraqi political parties.
The draft law on provincial council elections proposes an open slate system, which gives voters influence on the position of the candidates placed on the party list and allows an individual voting system.

Parliament’s session adjourned without approving elections law

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Tuesday , 09 /09 /2008

BAGHDAD, Sept. 9 (VOI) – MP from the Kurdistan Islamic Union said on Tuesday that the Parliament’s session was adjourned without approving the provincial council elections law, while Parliament’s speaker decided to hold a meeting for the heads of the parliamentary bloc for this purpose on Wednesday.
“The session was adjourned without approving the provincial council elections law and a meeting will be held tomorrow within this context among all heads of the parliamentary blocs at 11:00 a.m.,” Sami al-Atroushi told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).
The Iraqi government relies on the provincial council elections, which were scheduled to be held on October 1, 2008, to curb violence in the war-scarred country by including a number of armed groups in the Iraqi political process.
On July 22, the Iraqi Parliament, with the approval of 127 deputies out of 140 who attended the session, passed the law on provincial council elections, which includes an article postponing the elections in the city of Kirkuk.
Lawmakers from the Kurdistan Coalition (KC) had withdrawn from the session in protest against Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani's decision to have a secret balloting over article 24 of the law, pertaining to the status of Kirkuk. Balloting over all the other paragraphs of the law, however, was open.
The Presidential Board, with the unanimity of President Jalal Talabani and his two deputies Adel Abdelmahdi and Tareq al-Hashimi, rejected the law in a rapid reaction one day after the Iraqi Parliament passed it during a session that raised hue and cry over its constitutionality.
The law drew angry reactions from the Kurds, who considered the way the law was passed as a "twisting of the constitution," threatening to use the right of veto, granted by the Iraqi constitution for the Presidential Board, headed by President Talabani, a Kurd, to reject the law and return it to the Parliament for debate.
The law on provincial council elections, which is seen as supplementary to the law on regions and non-regional provinces, which was approved by the Parliament in February, has sparked heated controversy among political blocs.
The law specifies the system of government in Iraq, and if applied, a federal system may be established in the country with three separate regions, a call echoed by some Iraqi political parties.
The draft law on provincial council elections proposes an open slate system, which gives voters influence on the position of the candidates placed on the party list and allows an individual voting system.