Al Sudani government; Iraq crises scheduled for one year
The announcement by the new Iraqi government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani that it plans to hold early elections after one year and launch massive development projects away from oil raises questions about the possibility of achieving this in light of the complicated situation in the country now.
Iraqi political analysts differ in their estimates of the answers given the level of “solidarity” Al Sudani finds and the timing of the budget’s approval.
The Iraqi parliament voted on the Al Sudani government Thursday evening after announcing its ministerial program, which included reforms in vital sectors such as electricity, improving job opportunities, and boosting economic development initiated by former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.
The need to get together
A leader in the Co-ordination Framework Forces, Ayed al-Hilali, called for the success of Al Sudani’s program to find “solidarity from all sides”, and provided examples:
The security file needs to be strengthened and developed.
Al Sudani needs the cooperation of political blocs and will not be able to make any progress without political backing.
The political blocs must abide by the agreements they made before assigning Al Sudani and electing the president of the republic.
The economic issue will also put pressure on the government and require support, such as providing job opportunities for young people.
“On these files, the Al Sudani government is using a massive project to boost state imports and diversify sources of funding, relying on assets other than oil.”
In this regard, the new Prime Minister spoke of “a gradual shift from the rentier economy through modernization of the economy”, focusing on the potential of young people in building small and medium-sized enterprises in agriculture, industry, information technology, services and the environment; This creates jobs and attracts local and global investment
Complex laws
In addition to the economic aspect, moving stagnant water in the Iraqi arena also needs to put in place laws that have been interrupted by political struggles over elections and the formation of the government since the October 2012 elections.
Al Sudani included in his program the enactment of the Federal Council Law and the Federal Court Law within six months, with the amendment of the Elections Law within three months and its implementation within one year.
The Federation Council and Federal Court Acts are complex laws that have been in place for several years, and the Parliament has been unable to legislate them due to political differences.
Long and complex program
Iraqi analysts say the program is difficult to fully implement; with a complex political environment, crumbling infrastructure, and rampant corruption and cronyism that impede any prime minister from implementing “revolutionary” reforms.
“One year is not enough for this long and complex program,” said Ramadan al-Badran, an expert on Iraqi affairs. “However, I think some of the priorities will be implemented, and there may not be major problems with the curriculum, but the impasse in implementation is due to the long-term need, large financial expenditure, and control over this expenditure.”
Al-Badran says that “when a Al Sudani person thinks about spending 30-40 billion dollars in a year, this is a big thing, and the state may not be able to control it, and the country is not qualified for this amount of spending and projects.”
Next year’s budget is one of the challenges facing the Al Sudani government, with two months remaining before it is presented to parliament, to avoid the frightening scenario of a possible halt in the payment of employees’ salaries, if not approved.
At the same time, the new government has the advantage that it starts, and Iraq’s coffers have the largest financial reserves in its history, reaching $84 billion with the jump in oil prices, which is expected to rise to 100 billion by the end of the year.
