Protests in Nasiriyah against Parliament granting confidence to the Sudanese government (AFP)

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[size=52]Protests in Nasiriyah against Parliament granting confidence to the Sudanese government (AFP)[/size]

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October 29, 2022 
[size=45]Huda Jassim (Baghdad)[/size]
[size=45]The great challenges that Iraqis have faced for many years, which were inherited by the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani, after it gained confidence in the Iraqi parliament, not the least of which are rampant corruption, deteriorating services and amending the Parliamentary Elections Law within 3 months, and then holding early elections within a year, according to the program governmental.
Although Al-Sudani’s government gained confidence only two weeks after his assignment, this comes more than a year after the early parliamentary elections, at a stage characterized by tension, political differences and even violence.
In statements to Al-Ittihad, experts and analysts believe that the challenges facing the new Iraqi government are very difficult, and they ruled out a near end to the current crises, despite Al-Sudani's promises to fight corruption and achieve a breakthrough in basic services, and to move away from the policy of axes in foreign relations.
Yesterday, Al-Sudani received his duties in the government palace from former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, while the new ministers attended, accompanied by Al-Sudani, to receive their ministerial portfolios in an official ceremony. Al-Sudani held his first meeting with members of his government.
Despite the end of the political impasse that has plagued the country for a whole year, since the results of the early parliamentary elections were announced in 2021, which witnessed a low turnout, this does not mean the end of the “crisis,” as experts confirm.
Dr. Ghazi Faisal Hussein, Director of the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies, asserts that among the most prominent challenges facing the Sudanese are "uncontrolled weapons, corruption, and organized crime" that threaten opportunities to achieve sustainable development and invest in economic and human resources and Iraq's wealth.
Hussein added that implementing the government program within a year, preparing for early elections, and the ability of this government to find constructive solutions to the crisis in relations between Baghdad and Erbil are among the crises that constitute major obstacles for the new prime minister. He ruled out the government's ability to face these challenges soon, in light of the culture of quotas that the parties adhere to, pointing out that the revealing parties should review the mistakes they committed, which led to the destruction of the economy and the monopoly of power.
For his part, Professor at the University of Baghdad, Ihsan Al-Shammari, believes that the Iraq crisis is not only related to successive governments, but lies in a flaw in the structure of the system and how the political class deals with transformations in society and with democracy.
Meanwhile, the leader in the "Coordination Framework", Turki Jadaan, revealed what he described as "a 100-day plan to renew the blood of the security system in Iraq."
He considered that “the dismissal of senior leaders in the general office or at the level of defense and interior is normal, and comes in accordance with the context of his plan to strengthen the security system,” pointing to the possibility of changing 5 important security leaders in the coming days, according to his information. In the government programme, the political forces agreed to “amend the Parliamentary Elections Law within three months and to hold early elections within a year.”
Early elections constituted a major demand of the "Sadr movement" during the past months, and its supporters took to the streets and staged a sit-in in Parliament, raising that slogan.
Holding early elections and giving guarantees to the Sadrists may contribute to “the relative stability of the scene,” explains Ihsan al-Shammari, who suggests that Al-Sudani will move towards a “containment strategy for the Sadrist movement.”
The danger of tension in the street still lurks, as Al-Sadr has always been able to mobilize the streets, as happened during the summer. Al-Shammari believes that "if the Sadrist bloc, as a public or as a political track, feels that it may be completely isolated, and that there is a plan to undermine its political future, we may be facing a reaction."[/size]
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