Why does the electronic passport raise criticism? And what will happen to its traditional counterpar

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[size=52]Why does the electronic passport raise criticism? And what will happen to its traditional counterpart?[/size]

[size=45]Some social media pages circulated news about the end of the use of the traditional passport by next year, 2024, to be replaced by the electronic passport, at a time when legal experts explain that the passport law specified four categories of passports without mentioning the term “electronic passport.”[/size]
[size=45]“The first paragraph of Article Three of Passport Law No. (32) of 2015 stipulates that an Iraqi passport shall be issued to every Iraqi independently, and no additions may be made to it, and the holder’s photo and personal data shall be recorded on it,” according to the legal expert, Ahmed Jassim.[/size]
[size=45]Jassim continues his speech, via (Al-Mada), that “Article Two of the same law specifies four categories of passports: (diplomatic, private, service, and ordinary), and the law did not mention the electronic passport, nor did it mention to which category this passport belongs.”[/size]
[size=45]For his part, legal expert Ali Al-Tamimi says, “The Iraqi passport law specifies the types of passports from the category (any) to diplomatic and private, and nothing called the electronic passport is not mentioned in the law within these classifications.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Tamimi explained in an interview with Al-Mada that “the classifications contained in the law cannot be canceled except by amending the law, because the legal rule says: Administrative instructions or decisions cannot rise to the level of the law or exceed it.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Tamimi wondered about the fate of the passports issued this year, which have a validity period of up to eight years, stressing that “these decisions need to be carefully studied and not rushed, so that they are not subject to appeal before the Federal Court.”[/size]
[size=45]A number of citizens, especially the poor and those with limited income, complain about the high cost of issuing an electronic passport, which amounts to 91 thousand dinars.[/size]
[size=45]Citizen Ahmed Razzaq from Babil Governorate said in an interview with Al-Mada: “My father suffered from a health problem and required surgery outside Iraq, so I went to the Passport Department to issue a passport for me and my father.”[/size]
[size=45]He adds, “The Passport Department asked me for 91 thousand dinars to issue the electronic passport,” stressing that “the price of the passport is not commensurate with my financial situation, and yet we were forced to travel.”[/size]
[size=45]Razzaq calls on the concerned authorities to “reduce the costs of issuing passports, taking into account the circumstances of citizens, especially those who have a patient who needs to travel for treatment.”[/size]
[size=45]Some social media sites had previously reported news about not using the regular passport at the end of 2024.[/size]
[size=45]Commenting on this news, the spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, Brigadier General Miqdad Al-Moussawi, confirmed via Al-Mada that “the regular passport will remain valid until it expires, after which the old passport will be renewed with the new electronic passport.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Mousawi explains, “Both regular and electronic passports are currently in use, in all countries, until they expire.”[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that, last March, Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani opened a window to launch the “electronic passport,” while the competent authorities indicated that this version adopted international specifications that had not previously been applied to the paper passport.[/size]
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