Al-Zrafi denies being asked to form a government through a "political deal" and responds to his accusation that he is a "Washington candidate"

03/23/2020 13:21

Al-Zrafi

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On Monday (March 23, 2020), the Prime Minister-designate, Adnan Al-Zorfi denied that he had made a deal with the President of the Republic, Barham Salih, while responding to the accusations leveled and to Barham Salih, regarding the mechanism entrusted with him to form the government withouta Shiite-Shiite agreement.

Al-Zrafi said during a meeting with a group of Iraqi media people, at his residence, that "my assignment came naturally, being one of the candidates for the position, and the deadline for the constitutional deadline to choose a government representative was not met, and it was not in any way a deal with President Barham Saleh."

He added that "the method of commissioning is very natural, especially since the President of the Republic has exhausted all the methods that can be followed; whether he adheres to the constitutional deadline, and his request to the political blocs concerned to resolve the matter a day before the end of the deadline, in addition to directing an inquiry to the Federal Court."

Regarding what is said about an American option for the position, Al-Zorfi affirmed, "I am an Iraqi option first and foremost, and if one is forced during a period of his life where prisons and detention centers were constrained during the time of the previous regime, to compel him to this or that country, including the United States, to become an American." This is an unreasonable logic. "

He explained that "What concerns me primarily is building balanced relations with all countries of the region; whether they are Arab, as the periphery of Iraq is Arab, and Islamic, as the periphery of Iraq is also Islamic, in addition to establishing balanced state relations with regional and international powers on the basis of shared interests with priority for our interests." National. "

And on his options in forming the next government in light of many crises, including the crisis of his relationship with his partners in the Shiite house, Al-Zorfi said that he "began yesterday his consultations to form the government", stressing the importance of "that everyone participate in it."

He pointed out that "in addition to being a crisis government due to the nature of the challenges it faces that require everyone's participation in it, its mission will be only one year during which preparations are made for early elections."

Al-Zorfi stressed that "the decision to hold early elections is not only a government decision; as much as it is a political decision related to the nature of the preparations of the blocs and political forces to conduct such elections, and therefore, if the political blocs asked me if I went ahead in forming the government to conduct them within 3 months, I I will be ready for that. "

He explained that "regardless of the positions, I will only go with the agreement of all parties and components, because I want a government in which everyone participates," revealing "his continued contacts with the various parties, including the parties that still have reservations about his choice."

Regarding the government program that Al-Zrafi will present to the political forces, he pointed out that "my government program is brief according to the main challenges we face now, which is the external challenge, including the Security Council and the International Alliance, as the position on Iraq appears negative, and we may be subject to sanctions unless We take this into consideration. "

The second challenge that Al-Zarfi considered important during the coming stage is "the mass protests that must be dealt with as a priority of our work, especially since the primary demand of the demonstrators is to hold early elections, which must be worked on, knowing that the demonstrations were pure Iraqi, and did not They are partisan or politicized, and therefore we must rise to the level of what they represented as a challenge to all of us as a political class and society. "

And, "One of the things that needs to be done at the level of demonstrations is to deal seriously with the file of killing and kidnapping the demonstrators, as this cannot be condoned under any pretext."

And he added that "the challenge of the financial crisis that Iraq is currently experiencing due to the collapse of oil prices, is one of the most important things that must be faced and working on it seriously," noting that "Iraq now lives on the cash surplus provided by the government of Haider al-Abadi."

He explained that "among the things that must be worked on are negotiations with OPEC countries in this regard, in addition to taking effective measures in the field of encouraging investment and providing job opportunities."

On the last challenge to be faced, he said, "It is a (Corona) challenge that requires us to take a serious stand at all levels, and that is what we will focus on in my government program."

On Tuesday (17 March 2020), President of the Republic, Barham Salih, commissioned the head of the parliamentary victory bloc, Adnan Al-Zarfi, to form the new government, succeeding the former taxpayer, Muhammad Tawfiq Allawi, who presented an official apology for forming the government.

Then, during the commissioning ceremony that took place in the Peace Palace in Baghdad, President Saleh expressed his “wishes to the Prime Minister in charge of success and success in his new duties, to conduct early and fair elections, achieve the aspirations of Iraqis, and to meet the legitimate demands of peaceful protesters through the implementation of reforms Required, and to maintain the sovereignty, stability and security of Iraq. "

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