Home
POSTED ON[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] BY [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[size=52]Al-Sudani: The attack on the American embassy and Erbil airport is a terrorist act[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sudani to Rudaw: The attack on the American embassy and Erbil airport is a terrorist act
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
2023-12-15
Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani and the presenter of the “Beston Talk” program, Beston Othman
The Iraqi Prime Minister described the attacks on the US Embassy and Erbil International Airport as a “terrorist act,” expressing his government’s readiness to amend the budget law, in order to settle the issue of employee salaries in the Kurdistan Region.
[size=45]The “Beston Talk” program, presented by the journalist Beston Othman, hosted in a dialogue session the Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, and the program was attended by dozens of young men and women from the Kurdistan Region and the rest of the Iraqi provinces.[/size]
[size=45]In the program, many questions were asked, related to several files, related to the political, economic, security and social situations, and Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani answered them.[/size]
[size=45]At the beginning of the program, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani offered condolences to “our people in the Kurdistan Region following the incident that occurred in one of the student dormitories in the Soran area of Erbil, mercy for the victims and a speedy recovery for the wounded,” describing the gathering of youth in the “Beston Talk” program as “a very important step.” I am personally satisfied with it. The presence of our people, young men and women from all over Iraq, in a meeting is very important. Most importantly, they should be in front of the Prime Minister, not only to exchange conversations about the concerns of the youth, but also about all economic, social and political issues,” he said, addressing the audience: “You are part of this country and it is important for you to know the country’s policy and the country’s plans in a way that guarantees the present and the future.”[/size]
[size=45]Below is the text of the questions of Beston Othman and the youth present, as well as the answers of Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani:[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: The nature of our program gives absolute freedom to all students to ask any question without restrictions or prior preparations. I told them that, but it seems that they are still not reassured. They want to hear this reassurance from you to ask any question they have and everything will be fine.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: On the contrary, we must hear all the questions. We are not here in a session in which we chose people to give us the question. No, the speech is directed to everyone. Any question that comes to the mind of anyone present here can be kindly asked and I am ready to answer.[/size]
[size=45]“Previous governments did not reach a conclusion regarding Article 140.”[/size]
[size=45]Student Muhammad Sabri Yassin said: I am from the Kalkaji district of Sheikhan district in Nineveh, and we are here between two authorities. The regional authority and the Iraqi authority. For example, as an English graduate, I was one of the first graduates in my department, and until now I have not obtained anything. I ask the Kurdistan Regional Government to appoint us as teachers, but we do not get anything, and I ask Mosul to do so, but we do not get anything either. What do the residents of the disputed areas do in this environment?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: The subject of Article 140, or the disputed areas, is a constitutional article that was approved in the Permanent Constitution of Iraq in 2005 and committees were formed, and for the purpose of implementing it there are several steps to complete and implement this article, but unfortunately the previous governments and the committees that were formed did not reach a result, and there was disagreement in The extent of the article’s validity and implementation. I mention that there was a dispute between the Presidency Council and the government about who has the right to address the decisions of the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council. There is a problem. In Baghdad, in our government program, a conversation took place and there was a lot of discussion and controversy. We agreed to reconstitute the committee and begin disbursing the delayed compensation, and then in the next step. We are implementing the steps that were agreed upon, perhaps the most important of which is conducting the population census. The census was supposed to be conducted in 2023, and due to the governorate council elections it was postponed to May 2024. I believe that conducting the census will be a prelude to ending this file.[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: In your words, Your Excellency, as Prime Minister of Iraq, will we see the implementation of all the steps related to Article 140?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: Yes, certainly, this is a commitment to the government, but to be clear, the largest part is divided between the Presidency of the Republic as well as the House of Representatives. It is a complete package of steps that must be accomplished in order for us to implement the article in accordance with the constitution.[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: Your Excellency is known for your great speed in work, and for carrying out the tasks entrusted to you as Prime Minister, and today we have together implemented one of the articles of the Constitution that refers to the Kurdish and Arabic languages as official languages, which follows Article 140, and that it be implemented in the required time.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: In one of my meetings, I think, in Erbil. It was a conference. I said that it was time to lift the term of the outstanding problems between Baghdad and Erbil, which is always heard by governments, and move to the many future opportunities that bring together all parts of this country. We are determined to end this file, and to the extent of the government’s duty, we will take measures to implement the article.[/size]
[size=45]Student Hamza Ahmad Nizam, from the College of Political Science at the University of Baghdad, said: The Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, greetings to you, and we welcome you among your children, students of the University of Baghdad. There is a great weakness in the representation of the Turkmen component in the current Iraqi government, as we witnessed one deputy minister, who is the deputy minister of reconstruction in this government. Does this representation reflect the size of the component and its sacrifices during the former regime and in the liberation operations, and its size and originality among the Iraqi people?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: Our government is a coalition government, and the coalition government is joined by all the winning blocs and lists, which have representation. During the discussions on forming the government, the discussion was whether a ministry would be allocated directly to the Turkmen component, or would the blocs forming the state administration coalition be at the level of sovereignty and coordination framework, and both blocs had Turkmen representation from the representatives, so the decision was made to have representation within each bloc, but when the nominations were submitted, it was Devoid of component representative. In the last hours, I demanded that he be given a ministry of state, and they said that this would open a door. You know that the appointed person presents his ministerial cabinet and waits for the House of Representatives to vote, and if the political blocs do not agree on the cabinet and the formation, the voting process will falter. But we promised our Turkmen brothers that we would address this issue in independent bodies, as well as the rest of the sites, including agents and consultants, with whom we will deal after the evaluation is completed according to the standards, and they will certainly have representation in the various ministries.[/size]
[size=45]Student Manar Saad Askar, fourth year student at the College of Political Science at the University of Baghdad, said: They say that political science students do not have the opportunity to work in any field, and they do not have any opportunity to be appointed.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: This question is related to the job description in the ministries. I am familiar with this problem. We have ministries and agencies close to the specialty of political science, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the relations departments at the ministries level, as well as the High Commission for Human Rights, and some departments in the rest of the ministries. Frankly speaking, the job structure suffers from many problems, and it needs us to re-describe in all titles, and the Iraqi state is a state whose laws are old. Today we have specializations and colleges that have been developed and their titles do not match the job description present in the job structure of the Iraqi state, the civil service law that the House of Representatives is supposed to vote on. It will be an introduction, and we will also have an amendment to the Staff Law, so that we define these specializations in a way that ensures the existence of job grades for them in the rest of the ministries.[/size]
[size=45]“The government views the citizens of the Kurdistan Region with responsibility.”[/size]
[size=45]Rebin Siamand, a master's student at Soran University, said: I come from the Merkat Sur region in the Soran Autonomous Administration. My question is about your relationship with the presidencies in the Kurdistan Region and officials in the Kurdistan Region. From what we see in the media, you have a fairly good and stable relationship. After your visit to the Soran Autonomous Administration, you took a good tour of its tourist areas. How do you evaluate the development taking place in the administration of Soran and the Kurdistan Region? How do you view President Barzani’s position in the Iraqi political process and the level of Iraq’s stability? What is your relationship with them?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: The Kurdistan Alliance, with all its various forces, is an essential part of the state administration coalition that formed the government, and it is an essential partner in the political process that has taken place since 2003, or in the governments, the most recent of which is this government. In this government, we agreed on a ministerial platform, steps and commitments to The government, steps and obligations of the House of Representatives. We can say with complete confidence that, for the first time, the government is the one who follows up the political forces on the implementation of commitments, with evidence and numbers, and at every meeting of the State Administration Coalition, I submit a report in which I explain our implemented commitments as a government. There are problems and differences in viewpoints regarding various technical, administrative and legal issues. This is normal, but There is an understanding and keenness to implement the ministerial curriculum and commitments in a way that does not harm our people in the Kurdistan Region. I referred to your visit, which was a private visit, and frankly I enjoyed the company with the great leader Masoud Barzani, and I discovered in this man, during a tour for hours in different places, that he had in every mountain a story or an incident that he mentioned to me, starting with battles in different eras, an encyclopedia. Of the events, he is certainly a political leader fighting against dictatorship and is an essential part of the political process based on the constitution, the law, and respect for all components. I reassure the brothers, and this is an opportunity for our children in the Kurdistan Region. There are many media outlets trying to falsify and shade the facts, as if the federal government in Baghdad does not feel a legal, constitutional, and moral responsibility towards the citizens. At all, I find that from a legal, moral, and national standpoint, my government must look with responsibility toward the citizen. In the region, we also look at the citizen in Basra, Anbar, or Baghdad. This is not a slogan or a speech, but rather part of our policy to build confidence among all components of the people.[/size]
[size=45]Amending the budget law to resolve the Kurdistan Region employee salaries file[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: It is true that you, on a personal level, have a very good relationship with all the leaders of the Kurdistan Region, and it is true that we notice a real intention on the part of your government to solve the problems that the people of the Kurdistan Region are suffering from, but until now, as a Kurdish citizen in Iraq, I have not seen That is, translating your good relations with the leaders of the Kurdistan Region and the intention in your government program into an institutional relationship that effectively addresses the existing problems.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: I told you, and I will not hide from you, that we have problems at the border crossings, and problems in interpreting the articles of the budget law. Today everyone in the region, especially employees, suffers from not receiving the job salary that is the right of every employee. In the budget law or all the budget laws of previous governments, there is a clear clause about public spending, which determines the size of the state’s spending, and from it we determine 12.6% as a share for the region and grant it with monthly funding, that is, there is no clear clause in the budget law regarding employee salaries. 12.6% is the region’s share if it wants to distribute it as salaries or finance projects with it. This is its authority according to the constitution. We, as a federal government, give this percentage of public spending, which the Ministry of Finance announces and requests that the percentage be taken out of it and given to the region in exchange for the region’s delivery of oil and non-oil revenues. When we began implementing the tripartite budget law effective for three years, an unexpected problem arose for us. First, there was an amendment to the law in the House of Representatives, contrary to the draft that was approved by the Council of Ministers and respected by the Council of Ministers. We are implementing that and we cannot violate that, but that caused us a problem, especially with regard to the cost of producing a barrel of oil. Secondly, the Arbitration Court in Paris issued a decision halting the process of oil production and export through the Iraqi pipeline passing through the region to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Here, the region lost its oil revenues and only non-oil revenues remained. Therefore, the problem became more complicated and affected the revenues that enable it to fulfill its obligations towards the citizens. When we wanted to finance the region, these are details that I do not want to bother you with, but you must know them to avoid a problem. In Baghdad, the Prime Minister of the federal government is governed by law and I have no absolute authority to bypass the law and issue an order to transfer money.[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: But here the Kurdistan Regional Government has a request from you in the context of this issue, which is to amend the budget law. Are you ready to make this adjustment?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: Yes, I want to reach this point. In order to face this problem, I was forced to give these loans. You heard about it. This is a procedure. Implementing the budget law does not provide the flow for the regional government to grant salaries, so I disbursed the loans, and the last loan was signed by the Ministry of Finance and the amount was transferred to the regional government. The final solution, until we finish this file, is for the employees of the region to be treated similarly to employees of the Iraqi state and for them to receive their salaries, regardless of these details that we are talking about. This requires amending the law, and I asked the Parliamentary Finance Committee and all the components, and the team of advisors presented the draft that I prepared for them so that they could review it and give initial approval so that I could put it to a vote in the Council of Ministers, and I will send this amendment, God willing, as soon as possible.[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: I have two questions here. The first is about time. As you said, you will submit the project as quickly as possible. What is this time per day or week? The second question is about the months 10, 11, and 12. The people of the Kurdistan Region are actually waiting for their salaries for these three months, and here there is a difference in interpretation between you and the Kurdistan Regional Government. The Kurdistan Regional Government says that the amounts you transferred are for the salaries of months 7, 8, and 9, while you say that they were for months 10, 11, and 12. I do not know your position or their position on that. What I do know is that the majority of students coming from the Kurdistan Region have parents who receive salaries and are waiting for salaries for the 10, 11, and 12 months. The question is, do you have any initiative to pay the salaries of the 10, 11, and 12 months to the employees of the Kurdistan Region? The second question is: Is there a timetable for the radical solution to the problem to take effect?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: The government is in a greater hurry than any party to amend the law, because we know the impact on the citizen on the standard of living and service. Once there is an initial agreement, the Council of Ministers will vote on the amendment and we will send it to the House of Representatives. Now we are in a legislative recess. Work is supposed to resume after the elections in 18/12. The second topic, the topic of differences, at the end of this month we will make a settlement of the amount of amounts funded for the region compared to public spending, because as I mentioned to you, I am governed by the law, and I went to the amendment to overcome this problem. In light of the settlement, we will see the region’s percentage. If it is less than what was funded, the balance will be enhanced. If it is as much as the funding, we will have to enter 2024 and start with the new amendment.[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: In this case, do the people of the Kurdistan Region expect any additional loans that you will transfer to the regional government for salaries for the months of 10, 11, and 12?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: You give loans within the expected amount of the region’s share. You cannot grant outside the share because you are governed by the law. I want to go to the amendment to overcome this situation, and to basically maintain the smooth disbursement of salaries to employees, and what remains can be dealt with, because most of what is not What we can be late with is the employee's salary, so we want to address it.[/size]
[size=45]“Halabja is one of the headlines of the dictatorial regime’s genocidal crimes.”[/size]
[size=45]Callie Rinas, a communications student at Halabja University, said: We thank you for this opportunity, Mr. President, and I hope you can answer our questions. I was in the fourth grade of middle school, and I remember when I went to school, there were 30 students in the class with me. Every day I went I had one sneaker to wear. They always said there was a bad shoe smell. I could not reveal that it was my shoe, and I could not order new shoes from home because my parents were poor. Another thing I cannot forget is that I lost an entire year of school because of the salary problem. I was taking my second year exams, and my school uniform was torn and I did not have enough money to repair it. I went in normal clothes, but the hall director did not allow me to enter the hall, so I failed that year. This is one of dozens or hundreds of stories in our home and thousands of homes in the Kurdistan Region. I am sure that you are well aware of the bad situation experienced by salary recipients in the Kurdistan Region, and according to the Iraqi Constitution, a decent life must be ensured for all people. This is your mission to ensure a decent life for all the people in the country. Before I ask my question, I ask you not to give me a flexible answer. You know that the two most important pillars for sustaining life and ensuring the development of any country are education and health, and unfortunately, due to the problem of salaries, these two sectors are suffering from a very bad situation. How long do you want this situation to continue? How long do Kurdistan Region employees wait for their salaries? Or when will you get these tens of thousands of employees to safety?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: Certainly, this speech is very influential, especially for a speaker as an official. I appreciate the difficult circumstances that our people in the region are experiencing. On the contrary, your insistence on studying and taking exams is evidence of the persistence and determination you possess, and this is something we are proud of, especially since you come from the city of sacrifice, the city of steadfastness, this city that represents one of the headlines of the great crimes of genocide of the dictatorial regime. All appreciation to Halabja, the martyrs of Halabja, and the people of Halabja. .[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: By the way, they are waiting for you to tell them something about the creation of Halabja Governorate, because I think the only thing you can do for the city is to pass that on.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: This is what I was waiting for you to say. We, as a government, were seeking to approve the law, and we are now in the process of administrative procedures related to the governorate and the exercise of its functions. I return to that. The only action I have is to amend the law until the employee crisis ends. There is no alternative to that. We are close to this achievement, God willing. This is a commitment before you. The government will soon approve the amendment once it is approved and then it will be transferred to the House of Representatives. With the adoption of this amendment, the employees’ suffering clearly ends.[/size]
[size=45]Hani Al-Ati, a student at the College of Information at the University of Baghdad, said: Honorable Prime Minister Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani, kind regards. In our talk about achievements, you, God willing, have proven this topic, and in our talk about the achievements that we are witnessing in the Iraqi reality. On behalf of all students and all educational institutions, I say to you: Well done, Mr. President. In our talk about the economic file, the Iraqi street is currently suffering from the issue of the dollar, despite your speech in meetings and statements about amending this issue and limiting this matter. The Central Bank issued instructions and the market began to deal with the Iraqi dinar, but until now the Central Bank is dealing with a price and the Iraqi street is dealing with a price. last. How long will this black market last, how can it be reduced, and what are the actual measures taken by you in the near future?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: The gateway to economic reform is reforming the financial and banking sector. In the eighties, Iraq was suffering from war and there were no banks or trade. In the nineties, the blockade was imposed and there was no trade exchange, institutions or banks. After 2003, in 2007, the late Central Bank Governor opens dollar selling window to address inflation. For years, I maintained inflation, and it was not supposed to continue, but it continued, and you all remember the talk that prevailed on satellite channels about currency smuggling, corruption, and the monetary mass that was emerging. We criticized that. We came to correct the matter, where is the problem? You tell me that there is a price on the black market and an official price. I, as a government, am committed today and tomorrow to the official dollar price of 1320, and this is my commitment. But if you are asking me to commit to reducing the price in the parallel market, this means that you are calling on me to provide the smugglers with money. I will not do that. I give the merchant the amount. Whoever wants, and the same applies to the contractor and investor who wants to make the transfer, and the student who wants to transfer money abroad for the purpose of studying, I give him the dollar at the official rate, as well as travelers and patients in need of treatment, but the smuggler does not. Why does the trader go to the parallel market and buy the dollar for 1580? And he does not go to get it for 1320. That person is the one who wants to circumvent and does not enter the electronic platform, as he has a company and a license and pays taxes and customs duties, and the material that he imports and enters the port is subject to examination, so he buys currency from the parallel market and circumvents the platform to avoid this. You must be aware of this and know the origin of the battle, and I, as a government, am certainly exposed to this. The government failed to stabilize the price of the dollar. What is failure? Failure is continuing to make the same mistake that you criticized, and it is all smuggling within smuggling. We have many problems. For example, we have problems with our neighbor Iran. It is being punished and there are no transfers to its account. All banks refuse to make transfers to it, and no bank in the region makes transfers to Iran due to American sanctions. The merchant is forced to go to the parallel market in order to transfer to Iran. We sat with the Iranians and asked them to solve the problem. They have no problem dealing with the dinar, the toman, or the euro. They do not want the dollar, but rather they want the continuation of trade exchange to exchange their goods. We had a problem with Turkey that we solved. We opened an account in euros and lira and worked through them. This is a matter that requires patience, but the end result is that we have a solid banking system that conducts legitimate and unsuspicious transactions. Now I say with confidence that 95% of our legitimate trade passes through the platform. Now there is reliability in the financial and banking system, but those affected speak out and say that this is a failure and that it harms the citizen. I am presented with a daily report on food prices. There is no change in food prices. They are there to tell me that this has an impact on the citizen. We have committed everyone to dealing in the dinar. This is a culture that you must help us with. Yes, it involves manipulation, shading, and falsification, but trust me, if you want me to return the price of the dollar in the parallel market to the official price, this means that I am encouraging deception, and I will not do that.[/size]
[size=45]“The decisions of the Revolutionary Command Council led to demographic changes.”[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Anwar, a graduate of Kirkuk University, said: My question to them is: What are they doing to resolve the decisions of the Baath regime imposed on us in Kirkuk? We face a very bad situation every day. Before 2003, we were deported and most of our relatives were deported and executed. Now we see Iraqi soldiers storming our agricultural lands and preventing us from working on them, even though we have title deeds and the graves of our ancestors have been there for hundreds of years.[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: Prime Minister, there is the Balkana region. I do not know if it was mentioned in the reports submitted to you. There are many problems in the Balkana region. Dozens of land-owning farmers are unable to work on their lands due to the decisions of the Revolutionary Command Council of the Baath regime. Arab citizens have been brought to the area and they are undermining the rights of these farmers. How can this problem be solved?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: This is one of the problems related to Article 140. The decisions of the Revolutionary Command Council regarding the confiscation of agricultural lands are what led to this demographic change in the region, and these decisions have not been canceled yet. Some of them have not been cancelled, but the largest part has been cancelled, and with regard to their implementation I said that the hierarchy of procedures related to the article requires the implementation of the entire package. We face problems between farmers of different nationalities and we solve them with immediate measures, but as I said, the radical solution lies in canceling all decisions, and this requires legislation in the House of Representatives and also the application of Article 140.[/size]
[size=45]A student from Najaf Governorate said: Prime Minister, thank you for this opportunity. A very simple question that many young people would like to ask you. When will the killers of the October demonstrators be held accountable? When will you order the Minister of Defense, Interior, National Security, and Intelligence to open a major investigation in this area, so that the killers of the demonstrators can be tried and brought to justice? So that we, the youth, can be reassured about the future if we secure the past.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: There were measures that took place at the time, especially in Dhi Qar Governorate, but after we took over our duties and one of our obligations according to the government program is to complete investigations related to the October events and the crimes that led to the killing of our youth in more than one governorate. There was a committee formed by order of the previous government, a committee of judges, which made recommendations at the end of July of this year. I and a team of lawyers read the recommendations and found that they included other important aspects during the investigation. Of course, several recommendations were made to hold high-ranking officials and officers accountable, and it was assumed that Until the recommendation is submitted to the Judicial Council, through our reading of the file we found that a large part of the events was not covered and that there are security institutions that represent part of the problem that occurred based on the reports we have. Therefore, I have decided to expand this committee so that we cover all aspects of this issue, which embodies a commitment on the state. We celebrate International Human Rights Day and our constitution approved 32 articles on human rights, so it is the most ideal constitution in this aspect in the countries of the region, but the lesson is in implementing it. These materials and holding all killers accountable, whoever they may be, we cannot be complacent in the issue of identifying a crime and covering up for any security or political party, but as you know, this is what the investigation proves and what the judges and specialists we chose for this committee prove. This is a promise. We will reveal the recommendations and results of the committee once they are completed, God willing.[/size]
[size=45]“There is no budget to appoint all graduates.”[/size]
[size=45]Nabaa from Anbar Governorate, a fourth-year student in the College of Education for Humanities, said: In your last statement, you mentioned that the government cannot appoint a huge number of graduates. This statement frustrated us and we want to know what measures the government will provide in order to obtain social justice in comparison. With our peers, the rest of the youth?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: In numbers, the total number of graduates this year is about 300,000, and since 2017 no appointment has been mentioned in the budget law. With our calculations of 300,000 in six years, we have 1,800,000. It is natural that there is no budget that can accommodate 1,800,000 degrees. Functional and this is a reality, but will the government remain idly by under the pretext of the lack of government jobs? Certainly not. This is our commitment as a state and to all legislative and executive institutions to find jobs for our graduates and others. This is a duty, and do not think that a government that wants security, stability, and justice will ever ignore this issue. I work about 16 to 17 hours daily, and I focus on two aspects. Maybe you Over the course of two years, you have noticed that I have been focusing on two words (services and economy). Because I am convinced that services give confidence to the people that the government is serious about serving the citizen, especially since there is a huge shortage of basic services. Secondly, the economy. We have no solution to guarantee the future other than achieving economic reform. We are now waiting for the end of the year, and at the end of this year the Minister of Oil and the Minister of Finance come to me and present me with numbers about the volume of oil exported and the cost, so that the amounts can be transferred to the budget, salaries and the ration card will be financed, and these privileges will be given. So where is the development in this? If oil prices fall tomorrow, as happened in February 2020, I remember, our revenues would be one and a half billion, while we were required to pay 4.5 billion to cover employee salaries. Our balance runs out within six months, and what is the result? We must, as a matter of responsibility, think about this sector and achieve reform, and not treat it as a government by conducting work and then leave everything to the next government (to be confused about the matter). I am not doing that. I am working on plans extending for three, five, and even ten years, and I will remind you when I made reform. The gas sector. No one entered into this sector even during the time of the previous regime. Associated gas and natural gas were not invested by anyone. We burn 1,300 million standard cubic feet (cfm) daily, worth up to 5 billion dollars, and we import 1,000 mcfm from Iran to operate stations. Electricity costs me $4 billion annually in the budget, meaning we lose $9 billion annually. At the same time, natural gas in Nineveh, Anbar, Najaf, and Sulaymaniyah is not being invested. In order to achieve economic reform, I started with contracts. I have projects that are currently being implemented, meaning the companies began their work and within 3-6 months. In years we will achieve self-sufficiency, and this is a step. We will direct this money (4 or 5) billion to agriculture, trade, or industry, and it will generate job opportunities for graduates. As Minister of Labor, one of the laws that I was fighting for was the Retirement and Social Security Law, which was approved in 2016 when I was Minister of Labor, and was delayed by previous governments. But I did not abandon it. I presented the draft law to every government, but what is the benefit of this law? It will equate the privileges of a worker in the private sector with the government sector. I will not need to be in a job. If I work in the private sector, I will have rights and privileges like an employee, and usually the private sector’s salaries are more than the government sector’s salaries. Our strategic choice to solve a fundamental dilemma. Iraq has natural resources and has investment opportunities that enable it to develop various sectors and generate job opportunities. No one in Iraq will be waiting for a government job. Rather, I claim that even those in a government job can move to the private sector, as happened in the sixties and seventies of the last century when There has been movement in investment projects.This is what we are working on, and it is not exaggerated that we have sectors and investment opportunities that we are working on, and God willing, we will achieve the goal that we aspire to, which is achievable and important.[/size]
[size=45]Lina Ziad, a representative of the Sardar Group of Companies, said: I am not a student, but rather from the Sardar Group of Companies, and we also have a role in granting job opportunities to all existing graduates and making this available to them, but if the President allows me. I have been with the company for about 11 years and I work with the members of the Board of Directors. We have received several correspondences with the governments that succeeded us, including the government of the President. We presented many proposals, including a proposal to amend the commercial agency system, and a proposal to liberalize trade in Iraq. All of this is in the interest of Iraq and the people, and to provide a bridge between the government and private sectors, because when we encourage the private sector, this will have a role in developing Iraq, building Iraq, and building the national economy. Frankly, we have not We get any result or response. There is a great effort from all members of the organization to convey the voice and communicate the things that open horizons for investors to be present in the Iraqi market. What is your opinion?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: Sardar Group of Companies is one of the leading companies, because of which we discussed the contract for preparing cars for the Ministry of Interior. The problem was in the agencies. This is a draft law currently prepared by the government, and I think we sent it to the House of Representatives. In the rest of the items, we have a package of reforms. Two days ago we were in a workshop and the private sector was present in a special workshop to reform the tax system from which all companies suffer. We want to get involved in that, and all Arab and international companies see that the government is serious about achieving reform, the partnership law. I also organized a workshop on it last week, in the presence of the private sector, so that we legislate the partnership law in a way that guarantees the interests of the private sector. I believe that the government has its hands on all the joints that need to be amended, whether through legislation or through government procedures.[/size]
[size=45]“The government has prepared a plan to overcome water scarcity.”[/size]
[size=45]Mahdi Riyad, an environmental activist from Maysan Governorate, said: I work on environmental issues in Maysan Governorate, and my question revolves around the issue of the drying of the marshes and its consequences. Is the reason due to mismanagement of the internal water file, or the lack of water releases from upstream countries, changing the courses of rivers, and placing current dams? In addition, what is the impact of climate change on the marshes? We see the Iraqi delegation at the COP 28 global conference in the United Arab Emirates as the largest wing confronting this issue, and how important is that given that Iraq is one of the countries most affected by this issue? Does the government view Maysan Governorate as an oil governorate? Or an agricultural governorate? We did not get our rights in both directions. If we are an oil governorate, the government must provide projects accompanying factories through which it employs the people of the governorate, and if we are an agricultural governorate, the government must provide the necessary materials for that mentioned previously in the report.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: Maysan Governorate is the second governorate in terms of oil production and the size of oil companies operating in the governorate. On the contrary, it generated many job opportunities for the people of the governorate because the licensing tour companies were part of this governorate. Agriculturally, it is one of the active governorates even at the plan level for the last season. We support both directions. We have projects to invest in associated gas as well as important power stations in the governorate. We look at all governorates according to the resources available in them, and in light of these resources, we determine the economic activities that add added value to the governorate and to the national product, and this is considered by the ministries and by government plans. As for the first topic, which is important, frankly, we suffer from a scarcity of water in all governorates, including the region, and we suffer from climate change to the point that it has reached the stage of an existential threat in many areas due to migration and impacts. We have a scarcity of water and a rate of desertification, as well as the burning of associated gas, which in turn generates gases that affect the phenomenon of global warming. We also have environmental problems, despite the important steps in terms of infrastructure, especially wastewater networks, but we implemented the networks and did not implement the treatment plants, so everything that is diverted from Sewage networks go into the rivers. Imagine the scale of the problem and you have a drop in the water levels of the rivers. This creates a disaster and this is what happens. Now I have a plan for 2024 to build treatment plants in all areas from Mosul to Basra, because this is related to health and the environment. The second point is that we have a problem with neighboring countries. They are preserving their water percentage and building projects[/size][/size]
[size=52]Al-Sudani: The attack on the American embassy and Erbil airport is a terrorist act[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sudani to Rudaw: The attack on the American embassy and Erbil airport is a terrorist act
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
2023-12-15
Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani and the presenter of the “Beston Talk” program, Beston Othman
The Iraqi Prime Minister described the attacks on the US Embassy and Erbil International Airport as a “terrorist act,” expressing his government’s readiness to amend the budget law, in order to settle the issue of employee salaries in the Kurdistan Region.
[size=45]The “Beston Talk” program, presented by the journalist Beston Othman, hosted in a dialogue session the Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, and the program was attended by dozens of young men and women from the Kurdistan Region and the rest of the Iraqi provinces.[/size]
[size=45]In the program, many questions were asked, related to several files, related to the political, economic, security and social situations, and Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani answered them.[/size]
[size=45]At the beginning of the program, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani offered condolences to “our people in the Kurdistan Region following the incident that occurred in one of the student dormitories in the Soran area of Erbil, mercy for the victims and a speedy recovery for the wounded,” describing the gathering of youth in the “Beston Talk” program as “a very important step.” I am personally satisfied with it. The presence of our people, young men and women from all over Iraq, in a meeting is very important. Most importantly, they should be in front of the Prime Minister, not only to exchange conversations about the concerns of the youth, but also about all economic, social and political issues,” he said, addressing the audience: “You are part of this country and it is important for you to know the country’s policy and the country’s plans in a way that guarantees the present and the future.”[/size]
[size=45]Below is the text of the questions of Beston Othman and the youth present, as well as the answers of Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani:[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: The nature of our program gives absolute freedom to all students to ask any question without restrictions or prior preparations. I told them that, but it seems that they are still not reassured. They want to hear this reassurance from you to ask any question they have and everything will be fine.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: On the contrary, we must hear all the questions. We are not here in a session in which we chose people to give us the question. No, the speech is directed to everyone. Any question that comes to the mind of anyone present here can be kindly asked and I am ready to answer.[/size]
[size=45]“Previous governments did not reach a conclusion regarding Article 140.”[/size]
[size=45]Student Muhammad Sabri Yassin said: I am from the Kalkaji district of Sheikhan district in Nineveh, and we are here between two authorities. The regional authority and the Iraqi authority. For example, as an English graduate, I was one of the first graduates in my department, and until now I have not obtained anything. I ask the Kurdistan Regional Government to appoint us as teachers, but we do not get anything, and I ask Mosul to do so, but we do not get anything either. What do the residents of the disputed areas do in this environment?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: The subject of Article 140, or the disputed areas, is a constitutional article that was approved in the Permanent Constitution of Iraq in 2005 and committees were formed, and for the purpose of implementing it there are several steps to complete and implement this article, but unfortunately the previous governments and the committees that were formed did not reach a result, and there was disagreement in The extent of the article’s validity and implementation. I mention that there was a dispute between the Presidency Council and the government about who has the right to address the decisions of the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council. There is a problem. In Baghdad, in our government program, a conversation took place and there was a lot of discussion and controversy. We agreed to reconstitute the committee and begin disbursing the delayed compensation, and then in the next step. We are implementing the steps that were agreed upon, perhaps the most important of which is conducting the population census. The census was supposed to be conducted in 2023, and due to the governorate council elections it was postponed to May 2024. I believe that conducting the census will be a prelude to ending this file.[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: In your words, Your Excellency, as Prime Minister of Iraq, will we see the implementation of all the steps related to Article 140?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: Yes, certainly, this is a commitment to the government, but to be clear, the largest part is divided between the Presidency of the Republic as well as the House of Representatives. It is a complete package of steps that must be accomplished in order for us to implement the article in accordance with the constitution.[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: Your Excellency is known for your great speed in work, and for carrying out the tasks entrusted to you as Prime Minister, and today we have together implemented one of the articles of the Constitution that refers to the Kurdish and Arabic languages as official languages, which follows Article 140, and that it be implemented in the required time.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: In one of my meetings, I think, in Erbil. It was a conference. I said that it was time to lift the term of the outstanding problems between Baghdad and Erbil, which is always heard by governments, and move to the many future opportunities that bring together all parts of this country. We are determined to end this file, and to the extent of the government’s duty, we will take measures to implement the article.[/size]
[size=45]Student Hamza Ahmad Nizam, from the College of Political Science at the University of Baghdad, said: The Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, greetings to you, and we welcome you among your children, students of the University of Baghdad. There is a great weakness in the representation of the Turkmen component in the current Iraqi government, as we witnessed one deputy minister, who is the deputy minister of reconstruction in this government. Does this representation reflect the size of the component and its sacrifices during the former regime and in the liberation operations, and its size and originality among the Iraqi people?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: Our government is a coalition government, and the coalition government is joined by all the winning blocs and lists, which have representation. During the discussions on forming the government, the discussion was whether a ministry would be allocated directly to the Turkmen component, or would the blocs forming the state administration coalition be at the level of sovereignty and coordination framework, and both blocs had Turkmen representation from the representatives, so the decision was made to have representation within each bloc, but when the nominations were submitted, it was Devoid of component representative. In the last hours, I demanded that he be given a ministry of state, and they said that this would open a door. You know that the appointed person presents his ministerial cabinet and waits for the House of Representatives to vote, and if the political blocs do not agree on the cabinet and the formation, the voting process will falter. But we promised our Turkmen brothers that we would address this issue in independent bodies, as well as the rest of the sites, including agents and consultants, with whom we will deal after the evaluation is completed according to the standards, and they will certainly have representation in the various ministries.[/size]
[size=45]Student Manar Saad Askar, fourth year student at the College of Political Science at the University of Baghdad, said: They say that political science students do not have the opportunity to work in any field, and they do not have any opportunity to be appointed.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: This question is related to the job description in the ministries. I am familiar with this problem. We have ministries and agencies close to the specialty of political science, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the relations departments at the ministries level, as well as the High Commission for Human Rights, and some departments in the rest of the ministries. Frankly speaking, the job structure suffers from many problems, and it needs us to re-describe in all titles, and the Iraqi state is a state whose laws are old. Today we have specializations and colleges that have been developed and their titles do not match the job description present in the job structure of the Iraqi state, the civil service law that the House of Representatives is supposed to vote on. It will be an introduction, and we will also have an amendment to the Staff Law, so that we define these specializations in a way that ensures the existence of job grades for them in the rest of the ministries.[/size]
[size=45]“The government views the citizens of the Kurdistan Region with responsibility.”[/size]
[size=45]Rebin Siamand, a master's student at Soran University, said: I come from the Merkat Sur region in the Soran Autonomous Administration. My question is about your relationship with the presidencies in the Kurdistan Region and officials in the Kurdistan Region. From what we see in the media, you have a fairly good and stable relationship. After your visit to the Soran Autonomous Administration, you took a good tour of its tourist areas. How do you evaluate the development taking place in the administration of Soran and the Kurdistan Region? How do you view President Barzani’s position in the Iraqi political process and the level of Iraq’s stability? What is your relationship with them?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: The Kurdistan Alliance, with all its various forces, is an essential part of the state administration coalition that formed the government, and it is an essential partner in the political process that has taken place since 2003, or in the governments, the most recent of which is this government. In this government, we agreed on a ministerial platform, steps and commitments to The government, steps and obligations of the House of Representatives. We can say with complete confidence that, for the first time, the government is the one who follows up the political forces on the implementation of commitments, with evidence and numbers, and at every meeting of the State Administration Coalition, I submit a report in which I explain our implemented commitments as a government. There are problems and differences in viewpoints regarding various technical, administrative and legal issues. This is normal, but There is an understanding and keenness to implement the ministerial curriculum and commitments in a way that does not harm our people in the Kurdistan Region. I referred to your visit, which was a private visit, and frankly I enjoyed the company with the great leader Masoud Barzani, and I discovered in this man, during a tour for hours in different places, that he had in every mountain a story or an incident that he mentioned to me, starting with battles in different eras, an encyclopedia. Of the events, he is certainly a political leader fighting against dictatorship and is an essential part of the political process based on the constitution, the law, and respect for all components. I reassure the brothers, and this is an opportunity for our children in the Kurdistan Region. There are many media outlets trying to falsify and shade the facts, as if the federal government in Baghdad does not feel a legal, constitutional, and moral responsibility towards the citizens. At all, I find that from a legal, moral, and national standpoint, my government must look with responsibility toward the citizen. In the region, we also look at the citizen in Basra, Anbar, or Baghdad. This is not a slogan or a speech, but rather part of our policy to build confidence among all components of the people.[/size]
[size=45]Amending the budget law to resolve the Kurdistan Region employee salaries file[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: It is true that you, on a personal level, have a very good relationship with all the leaders of the Kurdistan Region, and it is true that we notice a real intention on the part of your government to solve the problems that the people of the Kurdistan Region are suffering from, but until now, as a Kurdish citizen in Iraq, I have not seen That is, translating your good relations with the leaders of the Kurdistan Region and the intention in your government program into an institutional relationship that effectively addresses the existing problems.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: I told you, and I will not hide from you, that we have problems at the border crossings, and problems in interpreting the articles of the budget law. Today everyone in the region, especially employees, suffers from not receiving the job salary that is the right of every employee. In the budget law or all the budget laws of previous governments, there is a clear clause about public spending, which determines the size of the state’s spending, and from it we determine 12.6% as a share for the region and grant it with monthly funding, that is, there is no clear clause in the budget law regarding employee salaries. 12.6% is the region’s share if it wants to distribute it as salaries or finance projects with it. This is its authority according to the constitution. We, as a federal government, give this percentage of public spending, which the Ministry of Finance announces and requests that the percentage be taken out of it and given to the region in exchange for the region’s delivery of oil and non-oil revenues. When we began implementing the tripartite budget law effective for three years, an unexpected problem arose for us. First, there was an amendment to the law in the House of Representatives, contrary to the draft that was approved by the Council of Ministers and respected by the Council of Ministers. We are implementing that and we cannot violate that, but that caused us a problem, especially with regard to the cost of producing a barrel of oil. Secondly, the Arbitration Court in Paris issued a decision halting the process of oil production and export through the Iraqi pipeline passing through the region to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Here, the region lost its oil revenues and only non-oil revenues remained. Therefore, the problem became more complicated and affected the revenues that enable it to fulfill its obligations towards the citizens. When we wanted to finance the region, these are details that I do not want to bother you with, but you must know them to avoid a problem. In Baghdad, the Prime Minister of the federal government is governed by law and I have no absolute authority to bypass the law and issue an order to transfer money.[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: But here the Kurdistan Regional Government has a request from you in the context of this issue, which is to amend the budget law. Are you ready to make this adjustment?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: Yes, I want to reach this point. In order to face this problem, I was forced to give these loans. You heard about it. This is a procedure. Implementing the budget law does not provide the flow for the regional government to grant salaries, so I disbursed the loans, and the last loan was signed by the Ministry of Finance and the amount was transferred to the regional government. The final solution, until we finish this file, is for the employees of the region to be treated similarly to employees of the Iraqi state and for them to receive their salaries, regardless of these details that we are talking about. This requires amending the law, and I asked the Parliamentary Finance Committee and all the components, and the team of advisors presented the draft that I prepared for them so that they could review it and give initial approval so that I could put it to a vote in the Council of Ministers, and I will send this amendment, God willing, as soon as possible.[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: I have two questions here. The first is about time. As you said, you will submit the project as quickly as possible. What is this time per day or week? The second question is about the months 10, 11, and 12. The people of the Kurdistan Region are actually waiting for their salaries for these three months, and here there is a difference in interpretation between you and the Kurdistan Regional Government. The Kurdistan Regional Government says that the amounts you transferred are for the salaries of months 7, 8, and 9, while you say that they were for months 10, 11, and 12. I do not know your position or their position on that. What I do know is that the majority of students coming from the Kurdistan Region have parents who receive salaries and are waiting for salaries for the 10, 11, and 12 months. The question is, do you have any initiative to pay the salaries of the 10, 11, and 12 months to the employees of the Kurdistan Region? The second question is: Is there a timetable for the radical solution to the problem to take effect?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: The government is in a greater hurry than any party to amend the law, because we know the impact on the citizen on the standard of living and service. Once there is an initial agreement, the Council of Ministers will vote on the amendment and we will send it to the House of Representatives. Now we are in a legislative recess. Work is supposed to resume after the elections in 18/12. The second topic, the topic of differences, at the end of this month we will make a settlement of the amount of amounts funded for the region compared to public spending, because as I mentioned to you, I am governed by the law, and I went to the amendment to overcome this problem. In light of the settlement, we will see the region’s percentage. If it is less than what was funded, the balance will be enhanced. If it is as much as the funding, we will have to enter 2024 and start with the new amendment.[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: In this case, do the people of the Kurdistan Region expect any additional loans that you will transfer to the regional government for salaries for the months of 10, 11, and 12?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: You give loans within the expected amount of the region’s share. You cannot grant outside the share because you are governed by the law. I want to go to the amendment to overcome this situation, and to basically maintain the smooth disbursement of salaries to employees, and what remains can be dealt with, because most of what is not What we can be late with is the employee's salary, so we want to address it.[/size]
[size=45]“Halabja is one of the headlines of the dictatorial regime’s genocidal crimes.”[/size]
[size=45]Callie Rinas, a communications student at Halabja University, said: We thank you for this opportunity, Mr. President, and I hope you can answer our questions. I was in the fourth grade of middle school, and I remember when I went to school, there were 30 students in the class with me. Every day I went I had one sneaker to wear. They always said there was a bad shoe smell. I could not reveal that it was my shoe, and I could not order new shoes from home because my parents were poor. Another thing I cannot forget is that I lost an entire year of school because of the salary problem. I was taking my second year exams, and my school uniform was torn and I did not have enough money to repair it. I went in normal clothes, but the hall director did not allow me to enter the hall, so I failed that year. This is one of dozens or hundreds of stories in our home and thousands of homes in the Kurdistan Region. I am sure that you are well aware of the bad situation experienced by salary recipients in the Kurdistan Region, and according to the Iraqi Constitution, a decent life must be ensured for all people. This is your mission to ensure a decent life for all the people in the country. Before I ask my question, I ask you not to give me a flexible answer. You know that the two most important pillars for sustaining life and ensuring the development of any country are education and health, and unfortunately, due to the problem of salaries, these two sectors are suffering from a very bad situation. How long do you want this situation to continue? How long do Kurdistan Region employees wait for their salaries? Or when will you get these tens of thousands of employees to safety?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: Certainly, this speech is very influential, especially for a speaker as an official. I appreciate the difficult circumstances that our people in the region are experiencing. On the contrary, your insistence on studying and taking exams is evidence of the persistence and determination you possess, and this is something we are proud of, especially since you come from the city of sacrifice, the city of steadfastness, this city that represents one of the headlines of the great crimes of genocide of the dictatorial regime. All appreciation to Halabja, the martyrs of Halabja, and the people of Halabja. .[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: By the way, they are waiting for you to tell them something about the creation of Halabja Governorate, because I think the only thing you can do for the city is to pass that on.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: This is what I was waiting for you to say. We, as a government, were seeking to approve the law, and we are now in the process of administrative procedures related to the governorate and the exercise of its functions. I return to that. The only action I have is to amend the law until the employee crisis ends. There is no alternative to that. We are close to this achievement, God willing. This is a commitment before you. The government will soon approve the amendment once it is approved and then it will be transferred to the House of Representatives. With the adoption of this amendment, the employees’ suffering clearly ends.[/size]
[size=45]Hani Al-Ati, a student at the College of Information at the University of Baghdad, said: Honorable Prime Minister Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani, kind regards. In our talk about achievements, you, God willing, have proven this topic, and in our talk about the achievements that we are witnessing in the Iraqi reality. On behalf of all students and all educational institutions, I say to you: Well done, Mr. President. In our talk about the economic file, the Iraqi street is currently suffering from the issue of the dollar, despite your speech in meetings and statements about amending this issue and limiting this matter. The Central Bank issued instructions and the market began to deal with the Iraqi dinar, but until now the Central Bank is dealing with a price and the Iraqi street is dealing with a price. last. How long will this black market last, how can it be reduced, and what are the actual measures taken by you in the near future?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: The gateway to economic reform is reforming the financial and banking sector. In the eighties, Iraq was suffering from war and there were no banks or trade. In the nineties, the blockade was imposed and there was no trade exchange, institutions or banks. After 2003, in 2007, the late Central Bank Governor opens dollar selling window to address inflation. For years, I maintained inflation, and it was not supposed to continue, but it continued, and you all remember the talk that prevailed on satellite channels about currency smuggling, corruption, and the monetary mass that was emerging. We criticized that. We came to correct the matter, where is the problem? You tell me that there is a price on the black market and an official price. I, as a government, am committed today and tomorrow to the official dollar price of 1320, and this is my commitment. But if you are asking me to commit to reducing the price in the parallel market, this means that you are calling on me to provide the smugglers with money. I will not do that. I give the merchant the amount. Whoever wants, and the same applies to the contractor and investor who wants to make the transfer, and the student who wants to transfer money abroad for the purpose of studying, I give him the dollar at the official rate, as well as travelers and patients in need of treatment, but the smuggler does not. Why does the trader go to the parallel market and buy the dollar for 1580? And he does not go to get it for 1320. That person is the one who wants to circumvent and does not enter the electronic platform, as he has a company and a license and pays taxes and customs duties, and the material that he imports and enters the port is subject to examination, so he buys currency from the parallel market and circumvents the platform to avoid this. You must be aware of this and know the origin of the battle, and I, as a government, am certainly exposed to this. The government failed to stabilize the price of the dollar. What is failure? Failure is continuing to make the same mistake that you criticized, and it is all smuggling within smuggling. We have many problems. For example, we have problems with our neighbor Iran. It is being punished and there are no transfers to its account. All banks refuse to make transfers to it, and no bank in the region makes transfers to Iran due to American sanctions. The merchant is forced to go to the parallel market in order to transfer to Iran. We sat with the Iranians and asked them to solve the problem. They have no problem dealing with the dinar, the toman, or the euro. They do not want the dollar, but rather they want the continuation of trade exchange to exchange their goods. We had a problem with Turkey that we solved. We opened an account in euros and lira and worked through them. This is a matter that requires patience, but the end result is that we have a solid banking system that conducts legitimate and unsuspicious transactions. Now I say with confidence that 95% of our legitimate trade passes through the platform. Now there is reliability in the financial and banking system, but those affected speak out and say that this is a failure and that it harms the citizen. I am presented with a daily report on food prices. There is no change in food prices. They are there to tell me that this has an impact on the citizen. We have committed everyone to dealing in the dinar. This is a culture that you must help us with. Yes, it involves manipulation, shading, and falsification, but trust me, if you want me to return the price of the dollar in the parallel market to the official price, this means that I am encouraging deception, and I will not do that.[/size]
[size=45]“The decisions of the Revolutionary Command Council led to demographic changes.”[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Anwar, a graduate of Kirkuk University, said: My question to them is: What are they doing to resolve the decisions of the Baath regime imposed on us in Kirkuk? We face a very bad situation every day. Before 2003, we were deported and most of our relatives were deported and executed. Now we see Iraqi soldiers storming our agricultural lands and preventing us from working on them, even though we have title deeds and the graves of our ancestors have been there for hundreds of years.[/size]
[size=45]Beston Othman: Prime Minister, there is the Balkana region. I do not know if it was mentioned in the reports submitted to you. There are many problems in the Balkana region. Dozens of land-owning farmers are unable to work on their lands due to the decisions of the Revolutionary Command Council of the Baath regime. Arab citizens have been brought to the area and they are undermining the rights of these farmers. How can this problem be solved?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: This is one of the problems related to Article 140. The decisions of the Revolutionary Command Council regarding the confiscation of agricultural lands are what led to this demographic change in the region, and these decisions have not been canceled yet. Some of them have not been cancelled, but the largest part has been cancelled, and with regard to their implementation I said that the hierarchy of procedures related to the article requires the implementation of the entire package. We face problems between farmers of different nationalities and we solve them with immediate measures, but as I said, the radical solution lies in canceling all decisions, and this requires legislation in the House of Representatives and also the application of Article 140.[/size]
[size=45]A student from Najaf Governorate said: Prime Minister, thank you for this opportunity. A very simple question that many young people would like to ask you. When will the killers of the October demonstrators be held accountable? When will you order the Minister of Defense, Interior, National Security, and Intelligence to open a major investigation in this area, so that the killers of the demonstrators can be tried and brought to justice? So that we, the youth, can be reassured about the future if we secure the past.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: There were measures that took place at the time, especially in Dhi Qar Governorate, but after we took over our duties and one of our obligations according to the government program is to complete investigations related to the October events and the crimes that led to the killing of our youth in more than one governorate. There was a committee formed by order of the previous government, a committee of judges, which made recommendations at the end of July of this year. I and a team of lawyers read the recommendations and found that they included other important aspects during the investigation. Of course, several recommendations were made to hold high-ranking officials and officers accountable, and it was assumed that Until the recommendation is submitted to the Judicial Council, through our reading of the file we found that a large part of the events was not covered and that there are security institutions that represent part of the problem that occurred based on the reports we have. Therefore, I have decided to expand this committee so that we cover all aspects of this issue, which embodies a commitment on the state. We celebrate International Human Rights Day and our constitution approved 32 articles on human rights, so it is the most ideal constitution in this aspect in the countries of the region, but the lesson is in implementing it. These materials and holding all killers accountable, whoever they may be, we cannot be complacent in the issue of identifying a crime and covering up for any security or political party, but as you know, this is what the investigation proves and what the judges and specialists we chose for this committee prove. This is a promise. We will reveal the recommendations and results of the committee once they are completed, God willing.[/size]
[size=45]“There is no budget to appoint all graduates.”[/size]
[size=45]Nabaa from Anbar Governorate, a fourth-year student in the College of Education for Humanities, said: In your last statement, you mentioned that the government cannot appoint a huge number of graduates. This statement frustrated us and we want to know what measures the government will provide in order to obtain social justice in comparison. With our peers, the rest of the youth?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: In numbers, the total number of graduates this year is about 300,000, and since 2017 no appointment has been mentioned in the budget law. With our calculations of 300,000 in six years, we have 1,800,000. It is natural that there is no budget that can accommodate 1,800,000 degrees. Functional and this is a reality, but will the government remain idly by under the pretext of the lack of government jobs? Certainly not. This is our commitment as a state and to all legislative and executive institutions to find jobs for our graduates and others. This is a duty, and do not think that a government that wants security, stability, and justice will ever ignore this issue. I work about 16 to 17 hours daily, and I focus on two aspects. Maybe you Over the course of two years, you have noticed that I have been focusing on two words (services and economy). Because I am convinced that services give confidence to the people that the government is serious about serving the citizen, especially since there is a huge shortage of basic services. Secondly, the economy. We have no solution to guarantee the future other than achieving economic reform. We are now waiting for the end of the year, and at the end of this year the Minister of Oil and the Minister of Finance come to me and present me with numbers about the volume of oil exported and the cost, so that the amounts can be transferred to the budget, salaries and the ration card will be financed, and these privileges will be given. So where is the development in this? If oil prices fall tomorrow, as happened in February 2020, I remember, our revenues would be one and a half billion, while we were required to pay 4.5 billion to cover employee salaries. Our balance runs out within six months, and what is the result? We must, as a matter of responsibility, think about this sector and achieve reform, and not treat it as a government by conducting work and then leave everything to the next government (to be confused about the matter). I am not doing that. I am working on plans extending for three, five, and even ten years, and I will remind you when I made reform. The gas sector. No one entered into this sector even during the time of the previous regime. Associated gas and natural gas were not invested by anyone. We burn 1,300 million standard cubic feet (cfm) daily, worth up to 5 billion dollars, and we import 1,000 mcfm from Iran to operate stations. Electricity costs me $4 billion annually in the budget, meaning we lose $9 billion annually. At the same time, natural gas in Nineveh, Anbar, Najaf, and Sulaymaniyah is not being invested. In order to achieve economic reform, I started with contracts. I have projects that are currently being implemented, meaning the companies began their work and within 3-6 months. In years we will achieve self-sufficiency, and this is a step. We will direct this money (4 or 5) billion to agriculture, trade, or industry, and it will generate job opportunities for graduates. As Minister of Labor, one of the laws that I was fighting for was the Retirement and Social Security Law, which was approved in 2016 when I was Minister of Labor, and was delayed by previous governments. But I did not abandon it. I presented the draft law to every government, but what is the benefit of this law? It will equate the privileges of a worker in the private sector with the government sector. I will not need to be in a job. If I work in the private sector, I will have rights and privileges like an employee, and usually the private sector’s salaries are more than the government sector’s salaries. Our strategic choice to solve a fundamental dilemma. Iraq has natural resources and has investment opportunities that enable it to develop various sectors and generate job opportunities. No one in Iraq will be waiting for a government job. Rather, I claim that even those in a government job can move to the private sector, as happened in the sixties and seventies of the last century when There has been movement in investment projects.This is what we are working on, and it is not exaggerated that we have sectors and investment opportunities that we are working on, and God willing, we will achieve the goal that we aspire to, which is achievable and important.[/size]
[size=45]Lina Ziad, a representative of the Sardar Group of Companies, said: I am not a student, but rather from the Sardar Group of Companies, and we also have a role in granting job opportunities to all existing graduates and making this available to them, but if the President allows me. I have been with the company for about 11 years and I work with the members of the Board of Directors. We have received several correspondences with the governments that succeeded us, including the government of the President. We presented many proposals, including a proposal to amend the commercial agency system, and a proposal to liberalize trade in Iraq. All of this is in the interest of Iraq and the people, and to provide a bridge between the government and private sectors, because when we encourage the private sector, this will have a role in developing Iraq, building Iraq, and building the national economy. Frankly, we have not We get any result or response. There is a great effort from all members of the organization to convey the voice and communicate the things that open horizons for investors to be present in the Iraqi market. What is your opinion?[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: Sardar Group of Companies is one of the leading companies, because of which we discussed the contract for preparing cars for the Ministry of Interior. The problem was in the agencies. This is a draft law currently prepared by the government, and I think we sent it to the House of Representatives. In the rest of the items, we have a package of reforms. Two days ago we were in a workshop and the private sector was present in a special workshop to reform the tax system from which all companies suffer. We want to get involved in that, and all Arab and international companies see that the government is serious about achieving reform, the partnership law. I also organized a workshop on it last week, in the presence of the private sector, so that we legislate the partnership law in a way that guarantees the interests of the private sector. I believe that the government has its hands on all the joints that need to be amended, whether through legislation or through government procedures.[/size]
[size=45]“The government has prepared a plan to overcome water scarcity.”[/size]
[size=45]Mahdi Riyad, an environmental activist from Maysan Governorate, said: I work on environmental issues in Maysan Governorate, and my question revolves around the issue of the drying of the marshes and its consequences. Is the reason due to mismanagement of the internal water file, or the lack of water releases from upstream countries, changing the courses of rivers, and placing current dams? In addition, what is the impact of climate change on the marshes? We see the Iraqi delegation at the COP 28 global conference in the United Arab Emirates as the largest wing confronting this issue, and how important is that given that Iraq is one of the countries most affected by this issue? Does the government view Maysan Governorate as an oil governorate? Or an agricultural governorate? We did not get our rights in both directions. If we are an oil governorate, the government must provide projects accompanying factories through which it employs the people of the governorate, and if we are an agricultural governorate, the government must provide the necessary materials for that mentioned previously in the report.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani: Maysan Governorate is the second governorate in terms of oil production and the size of oil companies operating in the governorate. On the contrary, it generated many job opportunities for the people of the governorate because the licensing tour companies were part of this governorate. Agriculturally, it is one of the active governorates even at the plan level for the last season. We support both directions. We have projects to invest in associated gas as well as important power stations in the governorate. We look at all governorates according to the resources available in them, and in light of these resources, we determine the economic activities that add added value to the governorate and to the national product, and this is considered by the ministries and by government plans. As for the first topic, which is important, frankly, we suffer from a scarcity of water in all governorates, including the region, and we suffer from climate change to the point that it has reached the stage of an existential threat in many areas due to migration and impacts. We have a scarcity of water and a rate of desertification, as well as the burning of associated gas, which in turn generates gases that affect the phenomenon of global warming. We also have environmental problems, despite the important steps in terms of infrastructure, especially wastewater networks, but we implemented the networks and did not implement the treatment plants, so everything that is diverted from Sewage networks go into the rivers. Imagine the scale of the problem and you have a drop in the water levels of the rivers. This creates a disaster and this is what happens. Now I have a plan for 2024 to build treatment plants in all areas from Mosul to Basra, because this is related to health and the environment. The second point is that we have a problem with neighboring countries. They are preserving their water percentage and building projects[/size][/size]
» utube MM&C 4/26/24 Iraqi Dinar - US Treasury Exchange Rates- Focus - Banking Partnerships - Rate C
» Parliamentary efforts to transform Iraq into a global market for transferring Internet capacities
» A parliamentary committee that enriches the political forces: Stop plundering Iraq’s wealth and work
» Politician: Salem Al-Issawi is the most likely to assume the presidency of Parliament
» The price of the dollar is close to 145 thousand dinars؛ how much is $100 worth of transactions؟
» Al-Sudani: The world today is witnessing crises whose impact has been reflected in the global econo
» The Federal Court responds to an inquiry by Al-Sudani regarding the powers of the provincial council
» Among them are the Iraqis... a list of the most sought-after immigrants to America
» An expert talks about the "biggest barrier" and the positives of merging Iraqi and Arab banks
» The House of Representatives adjourns its session
» Parliamentary demands to expedite the legislation of the Eid al-Ghadir holiday law (documents)
» Parliament adds the paragraph “Electing the Speaker of the House of Representatives” to its agenda
» Alsumaria publishes the text of the law against prostitution and homosexuality
» A parliamentarian reveals the reason for the failure of the Speaker of Parliament to pass during tod
» Al-Sudani: The government has launched many strategies and initiatives that will improve the reality
» International Business: Iraq has made progress in supporting businesses through investment and priva
» Association of Banks: Iraq is witnessing great development in the transition to electronic governmen
» The House of Representatives votes to add an item to its agenda (election of the Speaker of the Hous
» Parliamentary integrity: Combating corruption requires parliamentary legislation
» Al-Karaawi: America is trying to restrict Iraq
» The State of Law coalition moves to form the local government in Diyala
» The Sudanese and his battle against corruption.. Where is the fault with the government or with the
» Prime Minister's Advisor: We will see the dollar fall on the black market soon
» The Sunni blocs are resolute. The presidency of the Council is ours, away from Al-Halbousi
» Al-Sudani discusses with a workers’ organization his government’s steps in this field
» Parliament holds its session in the presence of 170 deputies
» In the presence of Nechirvan Barzani and Al-Sudani... the State Administration Coalition holds an “i
» The UAE company ADNOC resorts to Iraqi oil. Find out the reasons
» The Iraqi Parliament votes to add an item to elect a president to its agenda
» The Federal Court responds to an inquiry by Al-Sudani regarding the powers of the provincial council
» Al-Sudani: It is necessary to attract women to work as a productive energy that cannot be disrupted
» Zebari regarding targeting the Kormor field: a systematic attack on the economy of Kurdistan
» Saudi Arabia tops, and this is Iraq's rank... a list of major suppliers of crude oil to South Korea
» With a value of 125 million dollars.. Iraq is at the forefront of countries importing Iranian textil
» More than a billion dollars in sales from the Iraqi Central Bank within a week
» Al-Sudani stresses the need for the expertise of the International Labor Organization to legislate a
» Including the return of 21 wanted persons.. The Iraq Money Recovery Fund counts its achievements in
» The path to development is the criterion between true patriotism and political clowning.
» The file of the Presidency of Parliament is on the state administration table... this evening
» Director General of the International Labor Organization: Many challenges in the world of work and t
» Al-Sudani: The world is witnessing crises that reflect negatively on the Arab and international peop
» Prime Minister: Our government has provided great support for the success of the activities, program
» Al-Asadi: Iraq places the social protection file among its priorities
» Al-Sudani: Iraq is one of the first countries in the region to join the International Labor Organiza
» In the presence of Al-Sudani and Barzani, the State Administration Coalition holds an “important” me
» Appreciating the presence of Al-Sudani... Director General of the Arab Labor Organization: Here from
» Prime Minister: Our government has provided great support for the success of the activities, program
» Al-Sudani: The world is witnessing crises that reflect negatively on the Arab and international peop
» The Parliamentary Development Institute organizes a workshop on the political role of the representa
» With Arab and international participation. Tomorrow will be the start of the Fourth Baghdad Internat
» OPEC Secretary General: The end of oil is not on the horizon
» Closing a number of unlicensed offices and companies south of Baghdad
» Repercussions of the bombing...intensive government movements to resume work in the “Kormor” field
» In the presence of Al-Sudani...the opening of the Arab Labor Conference in its 50th session in Baghd
» Al-Sudani: We are working on drawing future visions regarding the “green and digital” economic secto
» Barzani after the Kormor attack: We are ready to coordinate with Baghdad to put an end to these atta
» Al-Sudani directs the formation of an investigative committee into the circumstances of the Kormo fi
» Bismayah is confused about the new electronic portal.. What about the landlord and the subcontracts?
» Kurdistan Government: Loss of 2,500 megawatts of electricity due to targeting the Kormor field
» Crisis in Kurdistan: 12-hour daily power outage and complaints of “confusion”
» The Supreme Anti-Corruption Commission demands Nineveh for the contracts concluded by “Najm Al-Jubou
» Al-Khanjar, Al-Samarrai, and Abu Mazen are hosted by Shaalan Al-Karim to discuss accelerating the se
» Iraq asks the countries of the world to respond to its requests to extradite wanted persons: We have
» “It is coming soon.” The Sudanese advisor sets the date for the referral of the Baghdad metro and th
» Al-Mubarqa: Iraq reserves its full right to respond to the Australian behavior
» Dollar exchange rates on Iraqi stock exchanges... recorded a decline, and this is the list
» Mr. Al-Sadr supports the position of American university students
» Iraqis are ranked 7th in the Arab world on the list of those most seeking immigration to America. He
» Soon.. 3 new hospitals will open in Baghdad
» Sponsored by Al-Sudani...the opening of the Arab Labor Conference in its fiftieth session in Baghdad
» Al-Shammari chairs a meeting at the controlling headquarters to review the results of the security o
» Arab Labor Organization: We commend Iraq's interest in the Arab Labor Conference
» Al-Sudani: The development road project will provide many job opportunities
» Sudanese advisor criticizes Kuwaiti analyzes regarding the development road project
» Al-Mandalawi stresses the need to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between Iraq and Poland
» Power maneuvers: America provides defensive weapons to Kurdistan in exchange for withholding from Ba
» Kuwait is drilling an oil well near Umm Qasr, towards Iraqi territory
» In the document... the first Iraqi ministry identifies the obstacles to changing the new official wo
» Italian Institute: Iraq is stuck in its own crises, including Baghdad’s efforts to undermine the “au
» The head of the Integrity Commission announces the holding of an international Interpol conference i
» Planning: Iraqi companies are not efficient in conducting the population census
» MM&C 4/25/24 National Bank of Iraq goes live with Temenos core banking and payments
» A banking official indicates a "danger" to Iraq by depriving more than half of its banks of dollars
» With the participation of the Association of Private Banks, investment opportunities are on the tabl
» Within a month... an Iranian border crossing recorded a noticeable increase in exports of goods to I
» The Association of Private Banks appreciates the efforts of the government and the Central Bank to c
» Al-Maliki's coalition presents a third candidate for the position of governor of Diyala
» Arab gathering: The Kirkuk problem is getting complicated and the Sudanese must intervene
» Next week.. a Kurdish delegation will visit Baghdad to meet with the Minister of Finance
» Under the pretext of salaries... Al-Party refrains from handing over port revenues to Baghdad
» Association of Banks: For the first time, we are witnessing a clear targeting of depriving half of t
» Parliament does not know the reason for the delay in sending the 2024 budget schedules: Voting takes
» Applicants for the 2024 Hajj are demanding that the Central Bank secure the dollar for them through
» Governmental and private banks will showcase their services tomorrow during Financial Inclusion Week
» Iraq's oil exports rise despite OPEC+ cuts
» A study explodes a "surprise"... Iraq is among the countries that export oil to "Israel": How is the
» Al-Araji emphasizes working to strengthen national identity
» Al-Sudani visits Saudi Arabia to participate in the World Economic Forum in Riyadh