Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim: We will dismiss any candidate who does not comply with the Citizen Alliance's platform and fails to serve the country and the citizens
Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, stressed that the Martyr of the Niche movement will be responsible for its candidates and their achievements, and will punish them more harshly than their public or the state institutions would do. He confirmed that any candidate who does not comply with the Citizen Alliance's platform and fails to serve the country and the citizens will be removed from the post of responsibility and that no one will be treated with nicety. The Citizen Alliance's platform, he thought, is made for the country and no tolerance or nicety will come at the expense of the people's accountability and the safeguard of the country future. His eminence declared that the Martyr of the Niche movement will take full responsibility for the acts of any of its members in which the public have faith or who inhabits a legislative or administrative office, as an engagement first towards Allah, and then towards the public. This came at a meeting between his Eminence and a large gathering of Basra citizens on Wednesday, April 3, 2013.
The Martyr of the Niche movement wants to reap votes without people get killed and hatred be fueled
His eminence stressed that the Martyr of the Niche movement operates within the ethical rules and the Arabic and Islamic values it believes in and demonstrates political shrewdness, yet it behaves in conformity with its morals and values, and its followers seek to follow in the footsteps of Imam Ali (as). He called on Basra citizens to ignore conflicts and the words of intimidation and destruction exchanged between some Iraqis as well as not to be dragged into discord among the citizens of one country. As Sayyid al-Hakim maintained, he has no doubt that the citizens of Basra are devoted to their country and zealous in defending its interests and riches. The people is aware now that Sunnites and Shiites are not killing each other, he said, but there are enemies who are slaying both of them; they seek to extinguish the State of Iraq, the Iraqi human being and the Iraqi life. For him, Iraq is the frame that contains and unites all segments of people and the Martyr of the Niche movement wants to reap votes without people get killed and hatred be fueled among the countrymen: the policy of the movement is not revenge. He reiterated that there is no way but to engage in dialogue and to share one vision, confirming that Iraq is too big to fall in any hands because it has great people, great civilization and great history and that the Citizen Alliance has a vision for how to build the state and the man in this country, to which it adheres and that it is bent on turning into reality. For him, the Alliance is not going after power. In fact, it has a project in mind: either it works hard to perfectly achieve it or leaves it to the others, without having to feel guilty about this loyal people. He stressed that the Alliance is keen on showing no mercy in rooting out corruption and corruptors and works on promoting the government of citizenship, not that of officials, the government of services, not that of claims and privileges, showing that the Citizen Alliance endeavors to turn its motto into a concrete fact. The Alliance has the concerns of the service governorate on top of its priorities in the governorate councils and will avoid engaging in the wedge issues and the political conflict in the service councils, he pointed out, and this is what the Alliance means by "My Governorate First" tag line in the electoral campaign.
Basra, the starting point for a successful Iraq with prosperous economy
According to Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim, the Citizen Alliance is deeply aware that a successful and secure Iraq with a flourishing economy starts from Basra, and this is not just wishes or electoral slogans, but realistic and practical plans, a vision to build a country and serve the nation and the citizens. The Alliance does not only raise the problems, but also suggest the adequate solutions needed by the Basra citizens, he added; it got the solutions for it is confident that Basra is the place to go in order to build a new Iraq and not elsewhere. His Eminence explained that such thinking was the incentive for the Martyr of the Niche movement to launch the project of Basra, which he considers the economic capital of Iraq since it is the main source of the daily food of Iraq and covers 70% of its annual budget. In his opinion, the project is the first and main goal the Martyr of the Niche movement aims for whether in the parliament or in the council of Basra governorate, since it is the cornerstone that will set the right course for Basra. “As long as Basra goes the right way, the South and Iraq as a whole would do the same”, his Eminence added. He also called on the Council of Ministers to finalize the long-awaited Project of Basra, the economic capital of Iraq, by reviewing it and putting it to vote, which will make it a major achievement for Basra citizens and all Iraqis. He confirmed that a 10-year experience gave rise to “From Basra We Shall Start” /”Basra First” principle, considering Basra the heart that pumps power and energy into the country and warning that if Basra is neglected, the whole Iraq would be so because in his opinion, Basra is the economic and architectural pillar of Iraq.
The Citizen Alliance laid out a careful plan of action for Basra to take off
Basra has a special sense of kindness and peaceful coexistence between its citizens and is the mother who holds in her arms the different ideologies and faiths, his Eminence stated. And anyone favoring sectarianism and division among groups in this great country, according to him, must be ashamed in front of such denominational diversity. He also confirmed that this nationalistic spirit made it a stop for all humanistic and civilization aspects throughout the history, stating that the Citizen Alliance laid out a careful plan of action for Basra to take off. He found that all the elements required in the prosperous cities all over the world are available in Basra; in fact, Basra is full of great talents and has one of the most prominent Iraqi universities, the University of Basra. It is also blessed by adequate workforce, and the Basra youth are highly qualified not to mention its strategic location since it borders the Gulf and is the shining city of Iraq, its strategic source of its natural resources and the link with the states of the Region, he added. He also pointed out that the Basra has an integral social fabric thanks to its religious composition which consists of Shiites, Sunnites, Christians and others and that it managed to provide and reinforce security, stressing the need for administration, planning, loyalty and specialization and to cause those who made promises to Basra to redeem them. As he confirmed, the Citizen Alliance is bound by his pledges before Allah and Basra citizens who know very well that its members show themselves in deeds and not only in words.
Basra taught us that being kind does not mean we are our naive and being generous does not mean we are giving up our rights
His eminence said that he recommended politicians to take away lessons from this people, his patience, perseverance, keenness, kindness, generosity and courage. He was sorry to hear that some of them have not stood by their words, stressing that Basra taught us that being kind does not mean we are our naive and being generous does not mean we are giving up our rights; yet, it taught us to give away silently and be generous no matter how much they are in need. His eminence maintained that the Martyr of the Niche movement admits its previous mistakes without justifying them, and has the guts to do so and show regret for these errors to people, promising to fix them and move forward. “All confident and faithful, we can say that we have taken advantage from this experience which produced a cautious youth and an accumulated expertise in terms of honesty and governmental work. We have also skillful candidates who work as per a service program they promised to be committed to, before Allah and us. This is what our electoral platform stands for, in fact it was practically drafted in such a way to meet the Governorate needs”, he added.
Basra taught us that being kind does not mean we are our naive and being generous does not mean we are giving up our rights
His eminence said that he recommended politicians to take away lessons from this people, his patience, perseverance, keenness, kindness, generosity and courage. He was sorry to hear that some of them have not stood by their words, stressing that Basra taught us that being kind does not mean we are our naive and being generous does not mean we are giving up our rights; yet, it taught us to give away silently and be generous no matter how much they are in need. His eminence maintained that the Martyr of the Niche movement admits its previous mistakes without justifying them, and has the guts to do so and show regret for these errors to people, promising to fix them and move forward. “All confident and faithful, we can say that we have taken advantage from this experience which produced a cautious youth and an accumulated expertise in terms of honesty and governmental work. We have also skillful candidates who work as per a service program they promised to be committed to, before Allah and us. This is what our electoral platform stands for, in fact it was practically drafted in such a way to meet the Governorate needs”, he added.
