politicsIraqbreakingthe chestthe governmentCivil warAl-Kazemi
2022-10-04 05:34A-AA+
Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, stated that the country was on the verge of a civil war following the bloody confrontations in the fortified Green Zone in the center of the capital, Baghdad, between supporters of the Sadrist movement on the one hand, and the security forces and armed factions on the other hand, but he stressed that Al-Sadr has the right to form The next federal government, however, made a mistake and missed the opportunity after the withdrawal of his bloc from Parliament and the political process.
This came in an interview conducted by French journalist and writer Georges Malbrunot, chief editor of the French newspaper “Le Figaro”, with Al-Kazemi.
Al-Kazemi answered a question the newspaper asked him about the day of the bloody confrontations in the Green Zone, saying: Yes, we were on the brink of a civil war, but the government worked with all wisdom and measure so as not to be dragged into that, adding that it was the two parties’ bet that the government would be with a party, but I took The decision is not to be a party.
He added that during 24 hours of intense conflict, I used all my capabilities and made all possible communications and gave clear, explicit and firm directions to the security forces to remove the specter of civil war, and I succeeded. This is my decision from the first day of the work of my government is not to be a party to any conflict, and to maintain moderation and balance. I firmly believe that we must move away from being drawn into violence.
And he was asked about the goal of the demonstrators on August 29 last as a result of the events in the Green Zone, Al-Kazemi said, on that day, there was chaos among all the parties involved. Both sides had decisions based on wrong data that dragged them into the arena of confrontation.
He noted that all parties tried to flex their muscles, and some parties tried to express their anger, but they made a mistake in choosing a way to express it, indicating that the beginnings were spontaneous, and we succeeded in removing the demonstrators from the government palace peacefully, and the demonstrators were determined to leave Parliament Also, however, things developed between the two parties suddenly and ended up between them in a dangerous armed confrontation. That is why I always stress the need to consolidate the values of democracy, adhere to the mechanisms of the modern civil state, and use the diplomacy of dialogue and understanding in accordance with the logic of the modern civil state.
And regarding the goal of the Sadrists, was it a coup or isolating leaders through confrontations with the Greens, Al-Kazemi said that there was no intention of a coup or anything like that at all. There was popular anger that was sometimes expressed in improper ways, and this was also accompanied by the unacceptable use of weapons and violence, and in the end both sides miscalculated and got involved in bloodshed.
He stated that the statements of a number of political leaders had also contributed to this, which created a dangerous escalation that contributed to igniting the fuse of violence between the two parties. In fact, there is a strong psychological war going on between the two sides, which the political leaders should be wary of.
He was asked about the fact that the Sadrists wanted early elections, and the Prime Minister said that not all political parties dealt wisely and rationally, and the reason was not to submit to the law. We have a very clear constitution, laws and constitutional timings, but unfortunately they have not been adhered to.
He explained that the reason is that the political forces do not believe in true democratic values, but rather believe in power and authority only. The values of democracy are new to the country, and therefore these values are alien to the political class and far from their behavior.
On the accusations against Al-Kazemi of allowing the Sadrists to enter the Green Zone, he replied: I did not allow them, but the security forces, under my direction, stood with full force before them, and our forces provided many wounded to prevent them from entering and storming state institutions.
However, he added: But the momentum of the demonstrators was great and the security forces were unable to stop them, and I had directed them not to use live bullets in all cases to prevent them from being drawn into violence, but some forces still believe in using dictatorial methods of violence and repression, and they want me to shoot live bullets at Citizens, this is unacceptable and completely contradicts my belief in democratic values, human rights and the civilized world.
With regard to Al-Sadr’s stopping the bloody confrontation, the Iraqi Prime Minister stated that the pressures of various parties contributed to the matter. Scenes of bloodshed and victims as well, and the possible repercussions of this on the already tense Iraqi scene also led Al-Sadr to the decision to withdraw, and Al-Sadr himself blamed all parties, including his group, for the events.
On the necessity of early elections, Al-Kazemi said that everyone agrees on early elections. The recent elections, despite their high integrity, attested by the Security Council, the United Nations, the European Union, and other international organizations that participated in observing them, did not lead to the formation of a government due to the failure of the political forces to agree, and the scramble for power at the expense of the citizen and the movement to build the country. Therefore, as in all other parliamentary systems, there must be another election to resolve the political crisis.
Al-Kazemi called on all political parties to meet now and establish the mechanisms for conducting the elections, while providing the legal, administrative and financial requirements for holding the elections.
He stressed that the country urgently needs to agree on a new social contract, and to consolidate the culture of democratic values of respecting the constitution, its timing and the results of the elections and dealing with them rationally, away from duplicity in looking at it, as they accept its results when it leads to victory and reject that when it leads to a loss for them.
Regarding Al-Sadr’s victory in the elections and his right to form a government, Al-Kazemi pointed out that Al-Sadr had won the most seats in the recent elections, and of course he should have the opportunity to form a government, but at the same time, Al-Sadr must search for other partners to be able to form the government.
He also said that al-Sadr had also made a mistake in his decision to withdraw from Parliament, which gave his rivals the opportunity to fill his void and turn into the largest bloc in Parliament. All Iraqi political forces are still young on democratic values and are not good at the game of modern democratic politics.
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