SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Coordination Framework on Wednesday announced a new initiative to put an end to a political stalemate in Iraq.
Iraq entered a political stalemate after the Council of Representatives failed to select a president in three sessions due to disagreements between the political parties.
Under a power-sharing system designed to avoid sectarian conflict, Iraq’s president is a Kurd, its prime minister a Shia and its parliament speaker a Sunni.
The tripartite alliance attempted to form the largest parliamentary bloc to elect Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) presidential candidate Rebar Ahmed, competing against incumbent Barham Salih of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
In a statement, the Coordination Framework including Shia parties bar the Sadrist Movement announced a 9-point initiative which it called a “national broad initiative” to end the political impasse in the country.
In the first point, it called on the parties to begin negotiations to resolve issues with no preconditions and that all sides should take into consideration “national and people’s interests”.
“The president should be a competent, loyal and good-mannered person,” it said in the second point of its initiative, calling on the Kurdish parties to reach understanding and agree on a candidate who has those characteristics.
Regarding the premier’s position, the group stressed the need to protect the “rights of the largest parliamentary bloc” in the third point.
It said the parties should reach an agreement on the next prime minister and that parties involved in the government should take responsibility for failure, success and accountability in the new government.
They should “promise that they will be supportive completely in accordance with the approved government’s program, which will be announced in a public conference”.
In the fourth point, the group called on the independent lawmakers to elect a “competent, clean, approved and impartial candidate to run the country in this sensitive stage,” the group said.
“The issue of the three presidencies should be settled and they should be passed in one package,” it stated in the fifth point.
It further said the policy of “breaking wills” should be avoided, stressing the need for “softness in acting and mutual compromise in order to reach a national and political partnership, taking into consideration the weight of elections”.
In the seventh point, it stressed that the majority that forms the government should provide a “peaceful environment” for the opposition so that it could “play its parliamentary role and monitor and hold the government accountable.”
The Coordination Framework also suggested in its eight point the formation of a negotiation committee for talks with other parties so as to implement its initiative.
“The option to take part in the next government or to become opposition will be an open and available option for all, without being imposed on any party,” the group said in its ninth point.
Besides the nine-point initiative, it also said the parties should promise to review deals made by the caretaker government, led by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
It also called for the amendment of the electoral law in accordance with a federal court’s ruling issued on December 27, which commits the parliament to amend the law and change members of the electoral commission.
