Baghdad International Dialog Conference: First Session: Political Challenges and Future Prospects

In the name of God the Merciful

Session 1:

(Political challenges and future prospects)

- Dr. Ibrahim Bahr Al-Uloum (Moderator)

- Dr. Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, Member of the Iraqi Parliament and former Speaker of the Council of Representatives

– Dr. Adel Abdul Mahdi, former Vice President of the Republic

– Dr. Adnan Al-Janabi, Member of the Iraqi Parliament

– Dr. Barham Saleh, former Deputy Prime Minister

– Dr. Ali Al-Adeeb, Member of the House of Representatives, Head of the State of Law Bloc

d. Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum 

– Baghdad, the city that has triumphed over the challenges and hosted the dialog today, is another proof of victory, and this diversity in attendance and participants deserves thanks, as well as the careful selection of the title by those in charge of the dialog.

– Post-victory options is a big and important title, everyone is looking forward to the post-liberation of Mosul, which is the question of everyone and the Iraqi street with all its components, and in this regard there are two intersecting visions on the Iraqi political arena, each of which has a choice :-

1- It is believed that the liberation of Mosul will be the gateway to the division or division of Iraq, and that this is the natural product of the form of the regime and its crises since 2003.

2- It is believed that the diagnosis of problems is the basis and that the liberation of Mosul is Iraq's gateway to the completed unity, after everyone realized that they have no choice but unity after the threat of ISIS terrorism, and his choice that there is a favorable opportunity after victory to review the files and go for a serious dialog.

– The Baghdad dialog is a distinguished initiative to support the second team, which believes in dialog and unity, but this requires politicians serious dialog and frank disclosure.

I will summarize the questions to the interlocutors as follows:

Can Iraqi political forces, despite their diverse identities and agendas, deal with the entitlements of the post-ISIS era?

And is it that the forces of the state are able to deal with the entitlements of victory in a positive way that preserves the unity of Iraq.

And if this is not available, what is required of us to do?

Is the UN-sponsored settlement a real option? And what are the most important bumpers we stand in her face.

Setting solutions is at the heart of the duties of bright minds.

d. Ali Al-Adeeb / Member of the House of Representatives, Head of the State of Law Bloc

With respect to the initiative in the dialog between politicians for the post-ISIS phase, I salute our security forces and the popular mobilization for their military victories.

Is it for dialog? Or to arrange productive prospects for this dialog?

We are in favor of defining the compass of this dialog and defining its objectives for the benefit of all, and we need to follow up on the proposals accepted by a committee to be established by the conference.

– We are talking about the unity of Iraq and the Iraqis, it must be noted that we contributed in some way to our division, as each faction is trenched against the other, and the trust between the parties has been destroyed and their production level has decreased.

Without a development process, not all solutions lead to a result.

We also need to use all possible means to stop takfir and terrorism in Mosul.

– Here, we must diagnose that every violence that uses weapons is resorted to an ideology that is abundant in the minds of humans, as extremist thought was in the rule of the Baath Party, and we must acknowledge that what is happening in Iraq is the result of a certain culture, behaviors and administration.

– The issue is also not intended on the Iraqi situation, but it is part of the region as a whole, perhaps in Iraq, the former regime combined the dictatorship of the party and extremist religious thought in a campaign of faith.

– We live a life of recognition of the other and non-monopolization of truth and political action, but this space of freedom has been misused by some, so we need a responsible democracy.

– Verbal transgression turned into transgression with weapons, and transgression with weapons prepared the emergence of ISIS.

– We need to review the political process, why insist that the electoral list refers to a specific sect or color, so we divided Iraq according to the components.

All the peoples of the world have a diversity of sects but have produced democratic systems.

- How many blocks were registered in the party registration department? 

Do they each have a real agenda or do they now represent selfishness that finds narrow sectarian representation?

We need to revise the election law to stop the rivalry that breeds conflict.

– The constitution assumed a certain quota for women, but it cannot be assumed an electoral method that guarantees the representation of all components.

Why do I stand for my component and not for human value?

Why is the other trying to take advantage of the possibilities and ideas more.

We need to review the whole political process.

If the constitution needs to legislate laws, the House of Representatives must take its role.

Ask what encouraged people to radicalize? How did I move from Baathist to societal thinking?؟

There is a neutrality of power that has been supported by the countries of the region to be an arena for competition and a struggle for influence. Why do you want him distracted?

Can we replace regional conflict with a union of these countries based on interests, not ideologies?

The main term is oil wealth.

– The issue of alliances or unions in the region can be the basis for building alliances that quell the conflict and do not fuel it. Terrorism does not only strike Iraq, but everyone is not safe from it, and this must be supported by the United Nations.

d. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani:

The important question is why did this happen?؟ The issue of the occupation of ISIS and the fall of 6 governorates, and everyone knows why?

We have not improved the building of the state, we have not improved the building of our security forces.

– We entered the corridor of post-occupation and what it carried of sectarianism and quotas.

So the conflict began with the formation of the state over power and not over state building.

The second question, what next?؟

It is limited to two points:

We should focus on the project of the state now and end the power struggle.

 We must establish our electoral participation in building the state.

– The state has turned into large ngos that distribute grants without real construction.

– There are 300 out of 328 deputies who hold the leadership that exists for the reasons of failure, or they would like the leadership of the first row to leave to the top (the Federation Council) to preserve their experience and leadership and be the parents of this political process, and to give young people a real opportunity.

The philosophy of this issue is that the victory over ISIS is inevitable, and it is a matter of time, and the coming danger is a danger that will threaten the legitimacy of the political process.

Because with the end of the danger, the state must absorb the people and secure all their requirements (the government spent a lot of money in the fight against ISIS) (the price of oil is declining)

Therefore, there will be difficulty in providing services and it will lead to difficulty in containing citizens.

If the same faces apply to lead the class, it will be  The question is what did you do in the past to work now, which leads to the reluctance of the Iraqi voter will lead to a drop in the proportion of voters to levels that may shake the legitimacy of the political process as a whole for lack of motivation.

But the new blood will say yes there is a failure and we will give these new faces a chance to work.

The challenges ahead require strategies:

1-  The strategy of strengthening state institutions to preserve their unity and prestige.

2- Going to whistle the crises of the people and blocs through national settlement.

He was surprised by the negative talk about an incomplete settlement and what was presented is just a question from the post-ISIS United Nations, and there is a perception of the national alliance only.

Determining the conditions and origin of extremism / Determining the prestige of the state

Challenging the constitution and reaching an agreement or document accompanying the constitution that goes beyond the rigid stalemate of the Iraqi constitution.

Challenging political conflict through a comprehensive national settlement.

d. Barham Salih :

We are talking today at an important historical moment as we achieve a victory over terrorism.

We appreciate the role of our friends in the fight against terrorism.

– The liberation of Mosul will be a watershed and important event to address the structural imbalances at the heart of the political process in Iraq and the failures.

Failure that has ruled the cycle of violence and mismanagement.

– In estimating the biggest challenge is to ignore the causes and factors that led to this situation and to declare victory and sing glory and forget the wounds of Speicher and the Yazidis and announce our victory, this biggest challenge.

– The liberation of Mosul will be a moment of victory, but a moment of revision to not repeat what happened.

– How to end the cycle of violence and make the defeat of ISIS the beginning of eradicating terrorist ideology and political chaos a greater challenge.

– Project  2003 was an important part of the process of building it, and now that phase is over, the fall of the idol is an eloquent message on the end of Saddam's era.

There are eloquent pictures of the end of this stage since 2003, and this does not reduce the size of the achievements, but the size of suffering and the lack of achieving ambition must lead us to this fact.

– Acknowledging the existence of the problem is a good start, but it is not, we need a frank dialog and that our dialog in Baghdad is based.

– Dialog in Baghdad and everyone comes forward with their frank visions without compliments.

– With regard to the treatments for the solution that has started to grow between Baghdad and the region, many Kurds see the constitution as either not implemented or not achieving their ambitions.

The south believes the Kurds have taken more than they deserve.

This is an argument that must be solved and an equation that everyone accepts must be found.

Baghdad also deserves a resolution from Kurdistan and that this equation does not remain confusing to the situation.

– If the region insists on a certain oil policy, let it come and agree and each of us bears his responsibility.

There is a right for the Kurds to decide their own destiny and to make their choice in Baghdad and not in another regional capital, whatever the outcome.

– The need for real discussion to end this dispute within the state, which has obligations outside the state, has a way.

– With regard to the Sunni component, which is an essential part of addressing extremism and being the impregnable dam in front of the new ISIS.

The people of Mosul are the ones who must defend their land from extremist ideology.

– The equation of empowerment versus security and effective participation is the main entrance to this dialog.

– The system of control in Iraq and not necessarily its people is a problem, as it makes it made up of difficult and obstructive balances for him to carry out his obligations, and this requires the removal of obstacles to this government.

– The government of Iraq in its current form cannot meet the economic obligations and provide services, we need structural economic reforms.

It is time to return to the topic of an economic investment fund that serves as a repository of funds from the government and the private sector, and what is happening in building major infrastructure projects.

Iraq is not far from finding this fund and mobilizing:

1- A deep port in Basra.

2-  Railways connecting the Gulf States.

3- An integrated oil export system.

4-  Island Irrigation Project.

– Major projects that transform the futile political debate that you suffer from today into an arena of consensus and investment.

– Major problems in the country need sincere intentions to solve without prejudice to its components, provided that we share common interests that bring us together.

– This victory is part of a victory in blood and money in which Iraqis pay the price for the mistakes of politicians.

d. Adnan al-Janabi:

I wanted to be the last because I have no component.

– The need for all of us to acknowledge without exception our failure to run the state and waste its financial resources.

– A picture of the 2005 elections with Dr. Barham Saleh and Dr. Adel Abdul Mahdi, the announcer asked me who was winning, I told him that the three are winning.

– Another picture in the Iraqi list told us that we have no value because we do not represent a sect.

The problem deepened day after day, and its roots consist of the former regime, but it is the occupation that threatened the pillar of the state.

– The state has two security and military wings to monopolize arms and a financial wing that has no resource other than oil, and when weapons were absent, we became prisoners of the courts under the rentier state.

We need an alternative to peace unity and the reorganization of the rentier economy.

– The security challenge made us look at something of peace unity, but it is incomplete, and the challenge of peace unity after ISIS will be great if we do not get peace, victory will not be achieved.

The second important thing is how to turn the quarterly economy and find a new economic equation 

It is based on good financial management and moving away from the rentier economy that encourages corruption.

– It is presented to us in light of the failure to come up with a non-sectarian approach that brings citizens together.

How do we combine this difference without all the components.

The duality of acknowledging failure must be inherent in recognizing citizenship as an alternative to the components.

How do we get out of the component to citizenship?

– How to put up national electoral lists.

He will not change these obstacles and problems except in a patriotic spirit.

– The equation must be reversed and the people are the ones who own oil and gas instead of the state, and then we impose a state tax on them.

d. Adel Abdul Mahdi:

Answer the questions raised whether political parties and forces are able to invest victory.

Is the state capable?

Is the regional situation favorable?

1- Yes, victory will undoubtedly be achieved, but victory over all terrorism has a longer path. ISIS is not an organization, but rather an extended thinking and behavior, and it has a presence in dozens of countries, and it has its supporting institutions.

In Nineveh, ISIS feels the prospect of defeat, but elsewhere, ISIS does not know it.

ISIS is not just an Iraqi industrial group, it has a history.

After ISIS in Nineveh, what is the solution?!

We do not disagree on the fundamental points of the solution, and no one says that I want sectarianism or quotas.

Let us agree on our differences and put the Kurds to independence and its options is good, but independence without result will have great consequences.

The talk of independence is an old talk and slogans for parties, what we must organize this issue and contain it.

What are the responsibilities of everyone towards everything that leads to the building of the state?

– Offering solutions is not the most important thing, but searching by means to finance theoretical ideas into practical means.

amending the election law, one list, economic structures = views worth considering.

– Are the political forces qualified to move forward and bear the post-Nineveh stage, these forces have made great sacrifices, but this is in the stage of opposition that brought down the most powerful regime witnessed in Iraq, yes with the help of the Americans, but the forces are the basis.

Now are these parties capable? I say no in this way, and the theories are still opposition parties, and they have not turned into parties to build a state and society, as we have not found a renewal for these parties to move from the mind of the opposition to the mind of the state, society and the region and approach the philosophical background on which the state must be built, and not only opposition to everyone who owns power, the mind of the state is different from the mind of the opposition.

Therefore, forces are not qualified to move towards solutions. Yes, there are visions, but they need a great effort to correct the path.

Is the country qualified to do the job?!

The state has been given a long time to talk about the arsenal of the former regime, and we have not seen any real change in its work, legislation, and methodology to move from a repressive state to a pluralistic federal democratic state.

The entire fabric of the Iraqi state is just a quadrant state.

– Talking about development needs to look for sources of financing, which are in people's pockets more than in global funds for borrowing, and they are afraid to exit because of obstructing measures and barriers.

Finding (bank house) in investing the internal environment economically

– The international situation we have problems with most of the neighboring countries, so what do we need to activate the two partners or differences?؟

There is no other way but to activate the joint forces without giving up the rights of Iraq.

– Components and citizenship Yes, we need a citizen state (and the citizen bloc), but do we dissolve the components or contain them?؟

– The Iraqi states respect the various components and value them in the proportionality of the constitution so that this component is a supportive and positive element and the citizen becomes a good citizen.

 Interventions:

– Our conferences do not come up with useful recommendations, and this is what confuses the countries of the world began to turn their budgets towards finding solutions.

1-  Raising allocations for my ministry  Education and higher education to 17%.

2- The political parties should adopt in their capable programs the development goals 20-30 .

3- Supporting the private sector.

Vian Dakheel :

– To learn peace in building the state, which Dr. Adnan talked about, I add to it the human touch in building the state, minorities contribute to enduring problems, but when rights are denied, please keep us in this country.

– What I understood from the words encouraging the entry of young people into the political process, my question is how do young people enter and I hope you give them the space to enter.

d. Manal Fangan

– Everyone is a person, the solutions are from his angle, and they are all correct, the solutions need steps :-

1- A comprehensive theory of the solution

2- Serious in finding solutions

3- Seriousness turns into a program of work

4- The program must be implemented

– What we fell into a series of episodes of lack of law enforcement

Wan  The state is built on the basis of efficiency, not the component, and in efficiency everyone participates

– The policy of managing alliances and international relations in which we raise many mistakes and unilateralism.

We need the policy of the interlocutor.

Ziad Al-Hashemi

- Suggest the idea of establishing the People's Bank of Iraq to finance projects and will contribute to finding real development.

finished