• Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim: al-Abadi's Mission Is Difficult, but not Impossible if Everyone Is Committed to Work with the Spirit of the One Country, Destiny and Future

    2014/ 09 /10 

    Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim: al-Abadi's Mission Is Difficult, but not Impossible if Everyone Is Committed to Work with the Spirit of the One Country, Destiny and Future

     
    Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, said Iraq needs strategic policies including those contained in the governmental program which save lot of time, pointing to the importance of establishing the principle of the administrative decentralization between the center and the provinces, since the decentralization will resolve many governmental and administrative blockages and effectively contribute to the acceleration of the reforms, the reconstruction and the development . He requested the government and the ministers to act with the spirit of the decentralization, stating that Iraq needs such decentralization because of the problems it suffers from, and to advance and recover, it must get rid of the restrictive and impeding central laws. His Eminence also called the council of Representatives to act in high spirit in order to legislate the laws, for according to him, there are more than 340 bills representing the infrastructure of the economic, social, scientific, cultural, service and security life of the Iraqis that are yet to be considered by the parliament, describing the birth of al-Abadi government as difficult. "But the good will of the political leaders and the support of the brothers and friends helped everyone forming the government within the constitutional deadlines", his Eminence said, adding that the government of al-Abadi is a new big corrective start, reminding that the essence of the politics is the art of the possible solutions and the moderate courses upon which everyone agrees and which reassure everybody, not the art of playing on the contradictions. He reiterated that the government's mission is difficult in a time where terrorism is controlling the third of Iraq and where the administrative confusion, the corruption and the weak services prevail, but not impossible, saying he believes that there are great chances of success if everyone is committed to work with the spirit of the harmonious, strong team, the spirit of the group and the spirit of the one country, destiny and future. On the other hand, he called on al-Abadi to decide on the security ministries as he promised the Council of Representatives and to save the Iraqi state from the proxy positions, describing such policy as unsuccessful administrative policy that drove the country to the paralysis we are experiencing today. He also wished success for al-Abadi and told him to take care of Iraq and of the Iraqis and to fulfill his promise to ensure support, control and correction, urging everyone to work with new spirit, to think positive and to adopt a resolution attitude and shy away from the attitude that tends to aggravate the crises and accusing the others of treason. Moreover, he addressed the international community by saying there has to be an open war against the ISIS limited by no geography or temporary policy.
    This came during the weekly cultural forum held at his Eminence's office on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.        
    Iraq Needs Global Strategy to Fight Terrorism
    His Eminence said Iraq urgently needs a global strategy to fight terrorism in general and the ISIS in particular, and the involvement of the reasonable number of brothers, friends and allies, considering terrorism as the main challenge that faces Iraqi in general and the terrorism of the ISIS in particular, warning against fighting terrorism in an impromptu, arbitrary way based on the reactions and appointing some failing security officials in sensitive positions. He said he is sorry that Iraq lacks planning and strategic work, considering the lack of strategic planning as one of the reasons of failing to destroy terrorism though thousands of fighters are engaged and billions of dollars have been spent. Here, he said it is important to determine the nature of the challenge that faces Iraq before putting a strategy in place, describing the ISIS as a cancer in the nation's body, a reason for which a strategy must be created to eradicate it; otherwise, it will definitely target the entire nation. His Eminence also warned the region countries that the ISIS is a tumor that cannot be controlled and thus everybody is in danger, stressing the importance of fighting the cancer in all the body and reiterating that the ISIS must be fought by honestly working on recuperating the breeding grounds where this malignant tumor grows, for without the participation of these grounds, it will be difficult and costly to achieve victory. According to him, the hand must be extended to the original tribes and to the respectable, honest and moderate national and social figures and the extremists must be excluded from the community.
    The Ministries of Transport and Oil Include Pivotal Positions About Which the People of Basra Will Have the Last Say
     
    His eminence pointed out that the presence of representatives of Basra in the cabinet, more particularly in the two ministries of transport and oil, is correct in principle and in content even if we were not able to achieve it in form, i.e. to have the appointed minister from Basra. He explained that these two ministries include pivotal positions about which the citizens of Basra will have the last say. He added: we seek to ensure the presence of the people of Basra in all State levels and ministries, mentioning that there are commissioners, assistant commissioners, general directors, ambassadors, consuls, commercial, cultural and military attachés and that all these levels and positions should include a representation of the citizens and competences of Basra, just like all other provinces according to their presence in the political and academic arenas. Sayyid Al Hakim stated that the appointment of ministers implies that we be certain of the commitment of those candidates so that we can ensure the implementation of the program we offered to our people which is in line with the general ministerial program. His eminence explained that the minister is a political position before being a technical one and that a ministry is managed through its staff composed of commissioners, general directors and other administrative members. He indicated that the lack of opportunities for us and other to select a minister from Basra who meets the political conditions does not mean that we’ve renounced Basra or violated its rights, reminding that the Citizen’s Coalition was the one who held up the slogan of Basra first, demanded the five petro-dollars, launched the project of “Basra, the economic capital of Iraq”, and requested the establishment of an Iraqi port authority based in Basra, and launched the project of “Basra 2040” which includes an urban and development plan for Basra for the next 25 years. His eminence demanded the ministers of oil and transport to keep a continuous communication with Basra and to stay close to the field, to the citizens of Basra and to the challenges faced by the province in general and by the sectors they run in particular. He addressed Basra and its citizens stating that they will witness the great start of an integrated work between the province and the ministry so that Basra can begin feeling the steps towards success and move beyond the phase of forgetfulness and negligence.
     
    No Security or Stability before Justice is Made for the Victims of Speicher
     
    The head of the Supreme Council considered that the public hearing dedicated to the discussion of the Speicher victims is a good step since it gives the case a media and public dimensions. Being a sectarian-based case, he added, its discussion at the country levels establishes a culture of honesty and keeps people from all sects informed of the events without any misguidance. His eminence affirmed that the hearing revealed the confusion of the security institution which was unable to provide logical and coherent information regarding the happenings; a respectful security institution cannot be unaware of the fate of 11000 of its citizens. His eminence described this situation as being a stigma on everyone person in a relevant position of responsibility, assuring that there could be no security or stability as long as the souls of the victims are looking for justice and fairness. He finally indicated that there are 11000 mothers who invoke God against those whose negligence, failure and corruption caused the perfidy of these pure young souls, wondering how can a high-ranked security official say that they don’t know the fate of 11000 members of the armed forces and adding that everyone thought the numbers of victims to be 1700 but now an official shows up and shock us with this tragedy.