The long-delayed national conference for Iraqi leaders will revolve around four major subjects, said a State of Law Coalition (SLC) MP.
The issues include the Erbil agreement, relations between the federal and Kurdistan government, naming ministers for the security posts and drafting the internal regulations for the Council of Ministers, and lastly allegations of politicizing the Iraqi courts, along with representation of the Iraqi public in all governmental agencies.

The first matter concerns the Erbil agreement and which of its provisions have been enforced and which have been suspended, said Haytham al-Jobouri of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's SLC.

The Erbil agreement, which was never fully revealed to the public, was proposed by Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani. It ended a nine-month dispute over who should run the government following March 2010's elections. The deal, which was signed by all the major political party leaders in Erbil, reinstated Maliki for the second successive term.
Maliki's elections rival, Ayad Allawi, whose Iraqiya List won the elections, was promised a National Council for Strategic Policies in return for his concession over the PM post. The council was not formed and the PM's State of Law Coalition and Iraqiya began incriminating and accusing each other of violating the Erbil pact.

Jobouri said the second major subject to be discussed at the national conference will be the "provoked relations between the federal and Kurdistan governments".

There are a number of suspended disputes between the two governments, which every now and then strain bilateral relations. These include, among others, the legality of Kurdistan oil contracts, the authority to fund Kurdistan peshmarga (border guards), and the ownership of some multi-ethnic areas, especially the oil-rich Kirkuk province.

According to Jobouri the third topic for discussion will be naming ministers for the security posts and drafting the internal regulations for the Council of Ministers.

Since 2010 the defense and the interior ministries have been run by Maliki and another minister. Neither Maliki has agreed to Iraqiya's candidates the Defense Ministry, nor does Iraqiya agree to the National Alliance's (NA) candidates for the Interior Ministry.

NA is a coalition of the Shiite blocs which united after the elections and formed the largest force in the Iraqi House of Representatives.

The national conference will also focus on the issue of allegations of politicizing Iraq's courts, as well as the representation of Iraqi public in all governmental agencies.
After Iraqiya leader Vice President Tareq Hashemi was accused of terrorism, Iraqiya pointed the finger at Maliki and accused him of politicizing the court. Iraqiya also claimed the confessions of Hashemi's guards were taken under torture.

In October last year more than 650 people, most of them Iraqiya supporters or members, were arrested on charges of conspiracy against the government.

Jobouri said the Iraqi nation suffers from many issues and believes the national conference alone is not sufficient to resolve all of the matters.

"If we found solutions for the successive political crises, designed strategies and formed committees to resolve the crises, then we could be able to resolve the entire issues in two or three hours… and I believe that needs a Moses stick," he said.

It has been more than two months since a committee was tasked with preparing the agenda for the national conference. Continuous disputes has delayed the conference, which was called for by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. It is expected that he will chair the meeting.






AKnews