Al-Halbousi's call for early elections... Will it find an echo within the framework?

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[size=52]Al-Halbousi's call for early elections... Will it find an echo within the framework?[/size]

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2024-09-22
The early elections file has returned to the forefront again, after the leader of the Progress Party and former Speaker of Parliament, Mohammed al-Halbousi, called for it, as part of the government program voted on by Parliament, in the second call of this kind after a similar call by the head of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, amid political problems facing Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, due to “wiretapping” issues and increasing political differences, but observers ruled out this option, due to the critical situation in Iraq and the region, and its rejection by active parties in the “Shiite” Coordination Framework.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Halbousi said in a televised interview the day before yesterday, Friday, that early elections will be held in April or May 2025, because they have become binding according to the ministerial program.[/size]
[size=45]The leader of the Coordination Framework, Aqil al-Rudaini, said during an interview with “Al-Alam Al-Jadeed” that “the Coordination Framework does not have any direction towards early elections, and this matter was not raised or discussed within the framework throughout the past period, but was only raised by the leader of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, and it is a personal point of view of his and there is no support for it from any party in the framework.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Radini added, “What the former Parliament Speaker, Mohammed al-Halbousi, said falls within the framework of political maneuvering and an attempt to exert political pressure on other parties within the Coordination Framework, to obtain gains in the Parliament presidency file, but al-Halbousi and other Sunni and even Kurdish political parties are not in favor of early elections, and everyone is in favor of completing the government cycle in full.”[/size]
[size=45]The leader in the framework continues, “All justifications for going to early elections are not available, especially in light of the governmental and political stability, and the successes in many files by Al-Sudani’s government, and therefore all calls and wishes for early elections were stillborn and we do not expect any real political interaction with them.”[/size]
[size=45]Last June, the head of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, called for early parliamentary elections in the country by the end of this year, 2024, stressing that the government of current Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is obligated to do so within his electoral program. Al-Maliki also demanded a law “preventing executive officials (the Prime Minister, members of the government, and officials) from participating in the elections.”[/size]
[size=45]In March 2023, Parliament voted on the third amendment to the electoral law, which re-adopted the single-district system for each governorate, with the Saint-Laguë proportional formula (with a difference of 1.7), while not addressing the idea of ​​early elections.[/size]
[size=45]In this regard, political researcher Ahmed Al-Sharifi, during an interview with “Al-Alam Al-Jadeed”, indicated that “the opposition to Al-Sudani and his government has become clear and declared by political parties inside and outside the Coordination Framework, and that there are real efforts to end this government as soon as possible, to prevent the building of a larger popular base for Al-Sudani.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sharifi explains that “the targeting of Al-Sudani politically by these parties will not only stop at going towards early elections, but there is an effort to amend the election law in a way that ensures undermining his chances and his electoral bloc, which he wants to run in the elections away from the Coordination Framework according to the data and information.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, "The repeated proposal to hold early parliamentary elections, and the support of this idea by a Sunni political party with political and parliamentary weight, could push towards implementing the idea, especially in light of the major internal conflict between Al-Sudani and the leaders of the Coordination Framework, after the wiretapping network case, which prompted some leaders of the framework to even think about dismissing Al-Sudani."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sudani's government program included many items, some of which focused on holding early elections and fighting corruption and loose weapons. Al-Sudani's government obtained the confidence of Parliament in October 2022.[/size]
[size=45]The demand for early elections is one of the most prominent demands of the Sadrist movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr, which he called for before the formation of al-Sudani’s government by the Coordination Framework Alliance, and before al-Sadr retired from political work in August 2022.[/size]
[size=45]For his part, Azm Al-Hamdani, a leader in the Azm Alliance, stated during an interview with “Al-Alam Al-Jadeed” that “what has been raised regarding calls to go towards early parliamentary elections has no real existence or proposal in the political corridors, especially since all political forces are in favor of Al-Sudani’s government completing its entire current term,” stressing “the existence of a consensus on this from the State Administration Coalition.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Hamdani asserts that “going towards early parliamentary elections in the middle of next year will not provide anything, especially since the constitutional period for elections is the end of next year, meaning that these few months will not benefit anything. On the contrary, they may complicate the political and electoral scene in a negative way and there will be repercussions on political and governmental stability, and perhaps this is what some political parties want.”[/size]
[size=45]He points out that “the proposal for early elections cannot be made through media statements that express the point of view of political parties and figures. This file must be discussed seriously and practically within the State Administration Coalition that formed this government, which still strongly supports it and does not think of such an approach. This is what all parties in the coalition recently confirmed, and they even confirmed the continuation of support for Al-Sudani and his government.”[/size]
[size=45]The wiretapping scandal was raised after the arrest of the employee in the Prime Minister’s Office, Mohammed Juhi. On August 20, Al-Sudani issued an order to “form an investigative committee against one of the employees working in the Prime Minister’s Office, for adopting an offensive post against some officials and a number of members of the House of Representatives, and to issue an order to withdraw his hand until the investigation is completed.”[/size]
[size=45]This network had two leaders in the Coordination Framework among its most prominent victims, who gave their testimony to the Iraqi judiciary. The arrest campaign continued until it included other employees, including photographers and others in the office.[/size]
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