Communiqué of the Meeting of the Central Committee
of the Iraqi Communist Party on 26th May
2016
The Central Committee of the Iraqi Communist Party held a meeting on 26th
May 2016 which discussed the latest developments in the country as well as the
preparations for the party’s 10th National Congress.
At the beginning of the meeting, a minute of silence was observed in
honor of the martyrs of the fight against Daesh, the victims of the cowardly
terrorist attacks, the martyrs of the popular protest movement, the martyrs of
the party and comrades and friends who have passed away recently and who had a
role in building the party and defending the cause of the people, the homeland and
the interests of toilers.
The meeting considered the recent political developments in our country
since the previous meeting of the Central Committee, held in March 2016. These
developments were studied in detail and the party direction for the coming
period was drawn up, including the tasks facing its organizations, members and
supporters.
The meeting pointed out the fact that the general conditions of the
country are moving toward greater complexity, tensions and deadlock, after many
initiatives that had been presented for resolving the crisis were ignored by
the dominant ruling groups that have insisted, until now, on putting their own selfish
interests ahead of the higher interests of the country. They refuse to show
flexibility and make mutual concessions to save the homeland from the deterioration
it is suffering in all political, economic, social and security areas.
The meeting considered that a refreshing light amid this darkness is
shining from the battlefields of the fight against terrorism and its
organizations, in the forefront of which is Daesh. Our armed forces, including
the army, police, Peshmerga, volunteers in the popular mobilization forces and
the people of areas that have been plagued by Daesh, have been scoring one victory
after another, especially the recent notable successes achieved in Ramadi,
Heet, Kubaisah and Rutbah, and on the front of Makhmour and Nineveh plain. In addition, progress is now being made on
the path of liberating the district of Fallujah from the grip of terrorism, as
signaled by the liberation of Karmah.
On this occasion, the meeting reiterated our party's support for the
battle against terrorism and to rid our country of its evils and crimes. It
also reiterated its call for vigilance against hostile elements who do not want
our country to progress in the direction of establishing security and
stability, especially those who stir up sedition and sectarian sentiments and
serve foreign agendas. It stressed the need to foil their plans through
uniting, supporting the fighters and taking care of the families of martyrs.
The meeting emphasized the duty to spare innocent civilians the horrors
of war and its consequences, and to care for the displaced and provide
everything they need, including shelter, food and medicine. Efforts should be
exerted to ensure their speedy return to their towns and villages that have
been liberated from Daesh, along with launching a national campaign to rebuild them,
and to appeal to the world and international organizations to support this
campaign. Care must be taken to give the responsibility for the reconstruction operations
to the sincere people of these areas, who have not misappropriated public money
and are untarnished by corruption.
The meeting called upon the government and the security forces to provide
security and protection for the citizens and their property, and to prepare for
and anticipate the aggressive schemes and evil vengeful spirit of Daesh after
the defeats it suffered on the battlefield and the foiling of the schemes of the
enemies of our people to stir up and fuel sectarian strife.
In regard to the existing intractable political crisis, the meeting
called for breaking the vicious cycle, and that all parties should be aware of
the dangers of the situation and the possibility of its descent to a worse
situation. It stressed the necessity of sparing our people and homeland the bad
and dangerous choices which would result in going backwards. In this context, the
meeting renewed the call for convening a quorate session of the Parliament and
without preconditions, for completing the formation of the government after filling
its vacant posts, and to begin the implementation of existing obligations. The
issue of the Parliament’s presidium can be discussed and decided upon in
accordance with the Constitution and the working mechanisms of the Parliament,
and not to make it an excuse to prolong the crisis and evade responding to the
demands of the masses and their protest movement.
This would constitute the beginning of moving forward along the path of
reform and change. The status quo cannot continue, and change has become a
popular demand and an urgent need, not a slogan that is raised for political
consumption. The ruling forces must realize that procrastination can only lead
to more social and political complexity and tensions, which is rejected by the masses
who are becoming increasingly aware of the need for immediate serious reforms. The
people’s suffering is mounting due to the deterioration of the living conditions
and services, the indirect taxes imposed on them, and the impact of economic
stagnation and the drop in oil revenues, which has affected the state’s public
expenditure, as well as reducing investment projects, causing higher rates of
unemployment and an increase in poverty.
All this is a result of the wrong policy of governance and undemocratic
mentality, of mismanagement of the country, insisting on the abhorrent
sectarian-ethnic quota system and the absence of logical and scientific
planning. In this context, the meeting rejected attempts to throw the burden of
the financial and economic crisis on the shoulders of the toilers, the poor and
those with limited income, who have suffered so much a result of several
factors including the deterioration of the actual value of the Iraqi dinar, rising
prices and shortages or scarcity of the services offered by the state,
particularly in the areas of electricity, transport, water and health.
The meeting considered that required reform must be comprehensive, and
should start with the formation of a government of competent persons with
integrity that is capable of running the country in these difficult
circumstances. Reform must then extend to all the independent commissions, special
grades and state institutions. The cases of corruption must be opened and the
corrupt should be sent to the courts, in addition to reforming the judiciary. Real
and effective steps must be taken towards deepening the democratic process, building
a state based on citizenship, the law, institutions and social justice.
The meeting concluded that to achieve this, more popular pressure is
required. This necessitates developing
the popular protest movement and coordination, and diversifying and increasing
its means and activities, paying attention to those on regional and sectoral
levels. It stressed the need to maintain the peaceful character of the protest
movement and warned against the efforts of some to implicate it in violence in
order to make it easier to circumscribe it and eventually suppress it. That is
what the anti-reform forces are seeking assiduously, sparing no means to
achieve it. Therefore the peaceful character of the protest movement must be
sustained and adhered to, and not to be dragged into provocations and to what
is planned by those seeking to maintain their positions, influence and
interests while the country descends uninterruptedly towards the worse.
While stressing the peaceful and civilized character of the protest
movement and the need to protect private and public property, the meeting has
strongly condemned the excessive use by the authorities and government agencies
of violence and resorting to the use of live ammunition, rubber bullets, tear
gas and hot water cannon. This constitutes an explicit and blatant violation of
the Constitution and the right of citizens to demonstrate peacefully and of
human rights in general. This requires opening an impartial investigation, as
demanded by the United Nations, and the referral of those responsible for
committing crimes of deliberate killing to justice. The government should
apologize to the families of the victims, and for the positions it took and the
phrases it used in its statements which contained insults and abuse against the
movement of millions of people. If there were a few infiltrators, as it is
saying, then it should arrest them and announce this transparently to the
people. It must also honor the martyrs and care for the wounded and the injured
and compensate them.
The Central Committee meeting dealt with the situation in the Kurdistan
region, and stressed the need to spare the region and its people the possible
consequences of the conflict raging between the ruling Kurdistan parties, and
the effects of the worsening of an already tense situation. All of this
increases the suffering of the people that has been caused by the economic stagnation,
the cost of the war against Daesh, the non-payment of salaries, and the
regression in the process of development, reviving the economy and fighting
corruption, as well as slackening in government institutions.
The
meeting stressed the need to continue constructive
dialogue between the various parties, evoke the valuable lessons of the past
and benefit from them.
On the other hand, the meeting stressed the need to improve the
performance of the party and its organizations, develop and elevate its work,
build bridges with the wider masses, adopt their just demands and defend them, and
expand the party's relations with the various strata and segments of society. Greater
attention should be devoted to the Democratic Current and developing its role.
Efforts should also be exerted to expand the relations of cooperation and
coordination with civil activists and democrats generally, as well as the
various patriotic and moderate enlightened Islamic forces and personalities. In
addition, a broad alignment, popular and political, should be built to support
reform and change, to get our country out of the current situation, get rid of
the sectarian-ethnic quota system, and work to build a democratic civil state.
The meeting considered the ongoing preparations for the convening of
the party’s 10th National Congress, and what has been achieved so
far to respond to this big event in the life of the party. In this regard, the
meeting adopted a number of measures to complete the preparations, to finalize
the documents of the Congress and publish them in the party media, and to
launch a broad discussion of the documents with the aim of scrutinizing and
enriching them. This is so because they do not only concern the party but all
of our people who are concerned about the country's progress and stability. The
meeting also determined the timetable for convening the conferences of party
organizations on local and provincial levels, in order to discuss the general
political line of the party and elect delegates to the National Congress.
The Central Committee meeting called upon the party organizations and comrades
to transform the preparations for the 10th National Congress to
events, activities and initiatives that are aimed at securing a strong party
presence in the mass protest movement, developing its role in the public political
life, and providing political and material support and backing to the party so
as to enhance its capabilities on all levels.
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