“General amnesty” linked to the “personal status” portal.. A “Shiite-Sunni” deal leads to a possible

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[size=52]“General amnesty” linked to the “personal status” portal.. A “Shiite-Sunni” deal leads to a possible escalation[/size]

[size=45]The “Coordination Framework” did not just ignore the objections against its efforts to pass the “Personal Status” law, but rather turned the matter into a “political deal” in exchange for the general amnesty law, which was one of the most prominent demands of the Sunni blocs in the agreement to form the government of Mohammed al-Sudani in October 2022, according to politicians and human rights organizations.
Objections against amending the law continue to this day, even though the “Personal Status” has reached the voting stage, while the opposition front is led by the 188 Alliance, which includes a group of political forces and figures, who focus on defending civil laws and public freedoms in the face of amending laws that threaten the unity of Iraqi society and perpetuate sectarianism, according to them.
The alliance, which derives its name from the number of the current Iraqi Personal Status Law, organizes protests in most Iraqi regions, and calls on societal and political forces to join it to confront these amendments, which it considers a threat to the constitution and civil values ​​in the country.
Has the “Personal Status” been subject to a barter?
The 188 Alliance, which defends the current Personal Status Law, revealed “bargainings within parliament to achieve electoral gains,” noting in a press conference held in the southern province of Basra that the amendment “will divide the people along sectarian and ethnic lines.”
The alliance points out that the controversial law that the Shiite forces are trying to pass has entered into a bargain with the general amnesty law that the Sunni component has been demanding since the formation of the government.
In a session held last week, the House of Representatives presented the “general amnesty” and “personal status” laws at once for a second reading, leaving the two laws to be discussed and voted on in a final vote, in a move that confirms the legislative authority’s determination to pass the amendments despite the fierce opposition campaign.
Sajjad Salem, a member of the parliamentary legal committee, stated in a press statement that “granting parliamentarians powers regarding legislation in favor of religious endowments is unprecedented,” stressing that “329 representatives do not know the content of the personal status codes. The single code for all sects was to prevent fraud and manipulation of rights across sects.”
He stressed that “the claim that amending the Personal Status Law is recommended by the religious authority is a mere slander.”
The interventions of the representatives supporting the amendment in the last session revolved around “demanding the importance of citizens’ freedom to choose the method of marriage according to their sects,” according to a statement by the media department of the Council of Representatives, which indicated that they stressed “the necessity of resorting to Islamic law, especially since amending the law is consistent with Articles 2 and 41 of the Iraqi Constitution and reduces the rates of divorce and family disintegration,” in addition to the fact that “the law in force contains articles outside the legal system.”
The current law (188) of 1959 on “Personal Status” had been subject to nine amendments in the years (1963, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1994, 1999) since its enactment.
Shiite reservations
: In contrast, Sunni MP Shaalan Al-Karim believes that any law enacted in the House of Representatives is not linked to any other law, and that each law is enacted on its own, without being limited to a specific component.
Al-Karim added, “There are pressures to obstruct the passage of the amendment to the Personal Status Law and the General Amnesty Law,” indicating that “the two laws were not put in one basket as is rumored.”
The MP stressed the need for understandings between political blocs to pass the Personal Status and General Amnesty Laws.
Al-Karim pointed out that “the General Amnesty Law will be passed during the current session to a large extent, but as for the Personal Status Law, there are reservations about it from all components, especially from the Shiite component that proposed the law.”
The final touches
In turn, Thaer Al-Jubouri, a member of the House of Representatives for the Shiite Coordination Framework, points out that the Personal Status Law and the General Amnesty Law are “very important laws and will be passed during the current parliamentary session.”
Al-Jubouri stated that “the representatives of the Shiite component are the ones who adopted the proposal to amend the Personal Status Law, based on a legal and religious vision.”
The representative of the State of Law Coalition denied passing the Personal Status Law in exchange for passing the General Amnesty Law, asking: “What does the Shiite component benefit from the General Amnesty Law?”
“The two laws will be subject to a final discussion before voting, and the opinions of civil society organizations and specialists will be taken into consideration,” according to Al-Jubouri.
He believes that “the two laws may be subject to final amendments to some paragraphs.”
Fake paragraphs
In addition, Mashreq Al-Freiji, Secretary-General of the “I am Going to Take My Rights” movement, which emerged from the October 2019 protests, and one of the most prominent opponents of making amendments to the Personal Status Law, confirms that the latter and the general amnesty law were passed in one basket.[/size]
[size=45]“One of the representatives insisted during the first reading not to pass the general amnesty law if the personal status law was not passed,” says Al-Furaiji, adding that “the recent speech by former parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi proved that the Sunni component has nothing to do with the personal status law, and it is understood from this that they voted in exchange for voting for them on the general amnesty.”
Al-Halbousi said in a television interview on September 20: “We are against passing the personal status law, and we do not support it. The current law is the safest and does not need amendment,” indicating that “the amendment will be limited to the Jaafari school of thought.”
Al-Furaiji says: “The personal status law is the only law that has caused a societal rift, and the process of passing it pushes us to resent the political class and speak ill of it, even after a while.” He
points out that “those who insist on amending the personal status law have misled people with two readings through the issue of alimony and Article 57, and these paragraphs are not mentioned in the law.”
Those who reject amending the law, with amendments made within the current Personal Status Law, to include Article 57 to suit the status of men and women, and not to tip the scales in favor of one party at the expense of another, according to Al-Furaiji.
Article 57 of the current law stipulates that “the mother has more right to the custody and upbringing of the child during the marriage and after separation, unless the child is harmed by that.”
The law stipulates that “the custodian must be an adult, sane, trustworthy, capable of raising and maintaining the child, and the divorced mother’s custody shall not be revoked by her marriage, and in this case the court shall decide the mother’s or father’s right to custody in light of the child’s best interests.”
The paragraphs of the aforementioned article also stipulate that “if the child reaches the age of fifteen, he has the right to choose to reside with whomever he wishes from his parents or one of his relatives until he reaches the age of eighteen if the court deems him of sound mind in this choice.”
Distorting opponents.
The Secretary-General of the “I am Coming Down to Take My Right” movement points out that “the law was used as election propaganda and to distort opponents of the amendment. We have seminars and conferences that may lead to new protest demonstrations rejecting the amendment of the law.”[/size]
[size=45]“If the law is passed, we will have a legal position by going to court to challenge the law, talk to the people, and expose many things that the political class is hiding,” according to Al-Furaiji.
Iraqis are not interested!
For his part, political affairs researcher Ali Al-Baydar points out that the objectives of the Personal Status Law are not linked to the objectives of the General Amnesty Law, but there is a collusion that made the two laws in one deal.
“The timing of proposing the laws created a desire for political bargaining between the components,” Al-Baydar points out, adding that “most Iraqis do not care about these laws, since most of the people are looking for services and job opportunities. As for those who talk about the two laws, they are either trying to stir up public opinion or may benefit or be harmed.”
He continues, saying, “As long as things started with bargaining, they will inevitably end with bargaining, and the two laws may pass in one session, as happened in the second reading.”[/size]
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