Representatives: The reform papers for electoral gain and their effect expire hours after signing

[size=52]Representatives: The reform papers for electoral gain and their effect expire hours after signing[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad / Tamim Al-Hassan[/size]
[size=45]Behind the political reform paper, which was the reason behind the Sadrist movement's leader Muqtada al-Sadr's return to the elections, a month after the boycott was announced, more than 10 papers, charters and reforms were proposed in the last 12 years.[/size]
[size=45]Most of these papers, according to observers and representatives, had no effect at the moment of their signing, due to the signatories' lack of commitment to the terms and the persistence of differences between them, in addition to the fact that most of these agreements carried unrealistic points, and were put forward to win public opinion.[/size]
[size=45]Several papers have been submitted since 2008 by political leaders, parliament, or by one political party, and they dealt with the political aspect, elections or even the economy, and some of them amounted to a hundred pages.[/size]
[size=45]In Iraq, something like a political custom has taken place, as these papers are usually released before each election or after protest movements, where the same phrases used in previous charters are repeated, most of which are laws and procedures carried over from one parliamentary session to another and from one government to another.[/size]
[size=45]Leaves in recovery![/size]
[size=45]Amer Al-Fayez, the leader of the Tasmeem Alliance, a new alliance that is running in the elections for the first time, told Al-Mada that “these papers were not originally created to live for a long time, but rather are presented to win public opinion and influence the elections.”[/size]
[size=45]In 2008, the first political reform paper was put forward in the first term of the government of Nuri al-Maliki, and at that time political differences were escalating against the background of the approval of the security agreement with the United States.[/size]
[size=45]The reform paper at the time carried articles, including holding a referendum for Iraqis on the agreement, which did not happen, and in the same year Parliament voted on the agreement without paying attention to the opinion of the street.[/size]
[size=45]The reform paper, which was presented at the time by political parties that were against the agreement, contained clauses calling for the release of all detainees and for amendments to the constitution.[/size]
[size=45]As well as respecting the jurisdiction of local and central authorities and working to abolish unconstitutional bodies, rebuild the armed forces, end the file of the displaced, and absorb the Awakening into the armed forces.[/size]
[size=45]The document also emphasized the “absorption of armed groups that have laid down arms and are ready to lay down their arms.”[/size]
[size=45]Most of what was stated in the document was repeated again in papers that were presented in subsequent years until the last reform paper a few days ago.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Fayez, a representative from Basra, added: "All these reform papers were not long-term or strategic, but rather expire quickly after being signed in a short time."[/size]
[size=45]And the deputy continues: "Every reform paper is extensively prepared in the media, but after that it is not applied on the ground."[/size]
[size=45]to accommodate the protests[/size]
[size=45]In 2011, al-Maliki launched several measures that were similar to the reform paper against the backdrop of large demonstrations denouncing the government’s policy and performance, known at the time as reforms or the “hundred-day deadline.”[/size]
[size=45]The Prime Minister at that time was supposed to review the performance of the ministries and present the achievements report to public opinion, which did not happen.[/size]
[size=45]At the time, he announced a package of reforms related to combating corruption, distributing 280,000 government jobs, and lowering the retirement age.[/size]
[size=45]At that time, he announced the possibility of appointing ministers, measures that were discussed again after that in the government of Haider al-Abadi.[/size]
[size=45]Amer Al-Fayez, whose alliance (Design) presents 43 candidates across the country, criticizes the parties that participate and adopt those agreements and pacts.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Fayez considers that “most of the signatories would not have respected their signature on these papers, otherwise they would not have repudiated them after that.”[/size]
[size=45]He continues, "These papers are similar to what happens in every coalition that precedes the elections. Everyone is talking about transforming the coalition into an institution, but differences arise within the coalition as soon as the first session of Parliament is held."[/size]
[size=45]The road to a second term[/size]
[size=45]In 2012, a large and detailed document was presented to the political forces and everyone agreed to it, before the National Alliance later repudiated, which was supportive at the time for a second term for the owners..[/size]
[size=45]The agreement was called the “Erbil Agreement”, and it included 3 parts, related to the Kurdish forces’ agreement with the National Alliance, the work of the Strategic Policies Council, which was supposed to be entrusted to Iyad Allawi, and the Kurdish forces’ agreement with the State of Law coalition to form a new government.[/size]
[size=45]The agreement carried more than 50 points, related to all the work of the three authorities, the restructuring of the security forces, power-sharing, and respect for the judiciary.[/size]
[size=45]But in the same year, the National Alliance in support of the owners launched another reform document, and said at the time that it carried everything that came in the Erbil Agreement and the amendments of former President Jalal Talabani.[/size]
[size=45]But in the end, most of the terms of the paper were not achieved and differences swept the political forces in the second term of al-Maliki until the emergence of the terrorist organization ISIS in 2014.[/size]
[size=45]Haider al-Abadi, the new prime minister at the time, began issuing several reform papers known as “reform packages” following the escalation of protests in the country.[/size]
[size=45]In 2015, al-Abadi threw many of his government and abolished presidential positions, but gradually returned with judicial rulings, despite the parliament's support.[/size]
[size=45]In the same year, Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jubouri presented a reform paper that included the dismissal of parliamentarians who were absent from a third of the sessions in a single legislative term, an evaluation of the performance of committee chairs and a reduction in protections, measures that were gradually abandoned after the demonstrations subsided.[/size]
[size=45]Horde reform and settlement[/size]
[size=45]A year later, Muqtada al-Sadr released a side reform paper regarding the conditions of the Popular Mobilization Forces, which were formed at the time after the spread of ISIS.[/size]
[size=45]The Sadrist movement announced at the time that the paper had been handed over to the presidency and parliament, and it contained provisions on the mechanism of the crowd’s work and its connection, and most of them did not materialize, which prompted the Abdul-Mahdi government after that to issue new reform papers regarding the crowd.[/size]
[size=45]A year after Al-Sadr's paper, the National Reform Document was signed by the three presidencies, which included the same previous items, respecting the constitution, political and economic reform and slimming the government.[/size]
[size=45]Before the end of the al-Abadi government, Ammar al-Hakim, the leader of the Wisdom Movement, had released a paper he called a “political settlement.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Hakim launched the paper at the time as the leader of the National Alliance, the largest parliamentary bloc at the time, and aimed at “zeroing crises” and arranging the situation after getting rid of ISIS.[/size]
[size=45]Most of what was stated in the paper was repeated again in later papers, such as the honor charter launched by political forces prior to the 2018 elections.[/size]
[size=45]The charter spoke at the time about the integrity of the elections (and at that time the elections witnessed the largest fraud, according to the United Nations), the neutralization of the security forces and their non-interference in the political file, and respect for the constitution and the judiciary, phrases that were then repeated in the recent reform document that received the approval of Muqtada al-Sadr.[/size]
[size=45]Documents similar to electoral programs[/size]
[size=45]After the elections ended and the results appeared, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, the new prime minister at the time, launched three reform packages as part of a new reform policy that followed the demonstrations that began in October 2019.[/size]
[size=45]Most of these items were not fulfilled, as Mustafa Al-Kazemi’s government came on the ruins of Abdul-Mahdi’s mistakes to correct the papers, and Al-Kazemi, in turn, released a 100-page paper on economic reform, and a great deal of controversy is being raised about it.[/size]
[size=45]Rahim Al-Daraji, the leader of the Kafa movement, which will participate in the upcoming elections, said in a statement to (Al-Mada) that the economic and political papers "are similar to the electoral programs of governments, most of which are construction papers that have no effect on reality." And the last of those papers, which were recently put forward under the name of the Political Reform Document, was not preceded by a large media and came out suddenly, but it achieved an important goal and returned al-Sadr to the electoral race, where he was afraid otherwise would obstruct the elections or postpone their date.[/size]
[size=45]The document, which came with 16 points, repeated the same phrases that were mentioned in the first document in 2008, which talks about respect for the law, the limitation of arms, attention to youth, and the integrity of elections.[/size]
[size=45]Rahim Al-Daraji, a former MP, adds: "For 18 years, no paper has succeeded, and the political forces have failed to provide a decent life for Iraqis," noting that these agreements are "repeated attempts to deceive the public."[/size]
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