Pages

Search This Blog

Friday, August 17, 2007

The New Shi'a-Kurdish Alliance

Full Text: The New Shi'a-Kurdish Alliance
The Four-Party Agreement in Translation
Posted 20 hr. 7 min. ago
Left to right, Massoud Barzani, leader of the northern autonomous Kurdish region, PM Nuri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, and VP Adel Abdul-Mahdi,
Photo by Khalid Mohammed/Getty.
Left to right, Massoud Barzani, leader of the northern autonomous Kurdish region, PM Nuri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, and VP Adel Abdul-Mahdi,

Four ruling Iraqi parties have agreed to a "new" political alliance and set of principles after intense deliberation. As reported earlier, the Shi'a Islamic Da'wa Party and Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council have signed an agreement with the two principal Kurdish parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Notably absent from the "new" agreement are any Sunni Arab political forces. The Iraqi Islamic Party of Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi left the negotiations. Also absent are any other opposition groups, including the secular Iraqi National List of former Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, and the Shi'a groups that have most harshly criticized the government of the Islamic Da'wa Party's PM Nuri al-Maliki, namely the Sadrist bloc and the Fadhila Party.

Indeed, the four signatory Shi'a and Kurdish parties already share power, and represent, respectively, the major pro-government constituents of the Shi'a and Kurdish blocs that entered into alliance to form the parliamentary majority after the December 2005 elections.

Full text of the agreement appears in translation below, as reported in Arabic by the Iraqi agency al-Malaf Press:

In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate

The National Principals for the Agreement of the Political Forces, and the Working Mechanisms

Based on the depth of the historical and comradely relationships between the Iraqi political forces that struggled and strove in their opposition to the defunct Saddamist system until its overthrow, and for the sake of supporting the pioneering democratic experiment of the Iraqi people to realize its ambitions and its welfare by building a secure and stable Iraq, in control of its sovereignty over all of its territory, some of the fundamental political forces on the Iraqi scene have initiated a discussion of the current conditions in the country and the terrorist onslaught by the takfiris and Saddamists in their effort to abort the gains of our people and to move the country backwards, and the need to confront these criminal gangs with a deeper national unity. After deliberations, (these political forces) reached an agreement to unify their ranks for the sake of realizing national accord and reconciliation, and guiding the government and making it succeed, in light of the following basic national principles:

In the political aspect:

1) The need for unity and cooperation for the sake of making the political process – which cannot be dismembered geographically – succeed, and pushing it in the direction of absorbing representatives of all the components and forces on the Iraqi political scene with transparency and openness between the different parties in confronting the political, security, and economic challenges.

2) The agreement of the political partners who participate in the political process to the following principles:

a) Commitment to the political process and to the bases of the democratic, federal system in place in Iraq.

b) Real participation in power of all the political partners and avoiding the politics of exclusion or isolation.

c) The political partners bear responsibility for building the state and the country in the interests of the homeland and its citizens, and commitment to the programs of the declared government.

3) The treatment of problems inherited from the past era that reflected negatively on the relations between the different Iraqi groups.

4) The unification of the national position in regional and international cooperation in a way that enhances the sovereignty of Iraq and guarantees the reconciliation of its people and protects the democratic experiment and thwarts the criminal plans that intend to push (Iraq) backwards.

In the aspects of the (Iraqi) state:

5) The strengthening of the constitutional institutions and the commitment to them, and increasing the effectiveness of the Council of Deputies to accomplish their legislative and regulatory responsibilities, and (strengthening) cooperation between the parliamentary blocs.

6) Supporting the Iraqi government to succeed in its political, economic, security, and service program in order to provide the best services to the Iraqi people.

7) Speedy completion of the stages of application of article 140 of the constitution and the activation and support of the committees concerned with its application, and the attempt to adhere to the timetable in the matter concerned, in the two paragraphs related to the settlement of matters in Kirkuk, and the disputed areas along the borders of the governorates, according to the constitution.

8) Deepening the cooperation and coordination between the federal government and the government of the Kurdistan region in the security and military area and in combating terrorism.

9) Increased cooperation between the federal government and the regional governments and the governments of the provinces not organized into regions, in the security, economic, political, and social fields, and in all other fields in what strengthens the federal government on the one hand, and what strengthens the local governments on the other, according to the constitution.

10) Agreement on the timetables for achieving the political, legal, security, and economic accomplishments.

11) Activation of Iraqi diplomacy to defend Iraq and its democratic experiment.

12) Support of the security plan to protect the security of the citizens, and the review of this plan in order to enhance it to remove its deficiencies and gaps.

13) Working to complete the process of building, training, equipping, and forming the military and security apparatus.

14) Adoption of a unified position on the presence of foreign forces to promote the sovereignty and independence of Iraq.

In the economic and services aspects:

15) Improvement of the standard of living for the citizens and the provision of services, (achieving) this by review of the economic plan and enhancing the oversight of the implementing agencies to guarantee the provision of basic services to the citizens, and to raise the economic level (of the citizens), especially of the disadvantaged classes and the families of martyrs, and those victimized in the time of the previous regime.

16) Diagnosis of the difficulties and obstacles that stand as a barrier to the activation of the various agencies of the state (and which prevent them) from undertaking their duties with regards to the citizens, and combating administrative and financial corruption.

17) Preservation of the national wealth and developing it in order that it be returned to the benefit and welfare of all sons of the Iraqi people.

Working Mechanisms:

1) Agreement on the periodic meetings of political leaders and that these meetings be meetings of decision making.

2) Agreement on the agenda of policies and goals that are to be achieved in the next stage.

3) A mechanism for implementing decisions through the activation of the role of official institutions and cooperation between the political blocs.

4) The formation of a general secretariat to undertake the role of following and coordination and develop an internal system (among the parties to this agreement).

5) Agreement on coordination of media agencies among the political powers.

6) Continuing to work with other parties, especially the Sunni Arabs in order to consolidate the internal front (among the signatory parties) and to enhance participation in power.

7) This agreement represents the first stage, and remains open to all those who wish to work to support the political process.

8) The agreement on the joint mechanism and a unified position in cooperation on the regional and international axis over the success of the political project from the Iraqi viewpoint.

9) Activation of weekly or periodical meetings between the presidency and the prime minister’s office, in order to handle issues concerning the government’s achievements in compliance with the constitutional powers of the presidency, in recognition of its role in assuring the implementation of the constitution, and (in recognition of) the constitutional powers of the of the prime minister’s office, considering that it is the direct implementing authority, as well as the general commander of the armed forces and the powers of the Council of Ministers and the ministries, according to the terms and powers specified in by constitution.

10) The parties intend to agree on a unified position, and in the case of differences, the parties commit not to oppose these positions set out in this agreement, and not to weaken one another.

(Signatories)

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan

The Islamic Da'wa Party

The Kurdistan Democratic Party

The Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council

Baghdad, August 16, 2007

No comments: