The newspapers issued today, Tuesday, followed the visit of Prime Minister Muhammad Al-Sudani to Cairo and the budget
Al-Zawraa newspaper, published by the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, said that the Prime Minister arrived yesterday, Monday, in Egypt on an official visit at the head of a senior government delegation.
The media office of the Prime Minister stated, in a statement, that “Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani has started an official visit to the Arab Republic of Egypt, at the head of a high government delegation, during which he will hold a series of meetings and discussions with the Egyptian side.”
The statement added: “An official reception ceremony took place for Prime Minister Mohamed Al-Sudani, in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, by Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly, at Cairo International Airport, where the reception ceremony witnessed the playing of the Iraqi and Egyptian national anthems, and the review of the guard of honor.”
It continued: “The Prime Minister will meet during the visit, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and will hold a number of meetings and conferences with senior officials in the Egyptian government. He will also meet with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, in addition to holding an expanded meeting with the Iraqi community residing in Egypt.
The statement pointed out that “within the framework of the official visit, a meeting of the Joint Higher Committee between Iraq and Egypt will be held today, Tuesday, which will include the signing of a number of memorandums of understanding in the financial and commercial fields, in the fields of tourism, administrative development and diplomatic training, and an agreement to exchange experiences in various fields and fields.”
The statement indicated that the Prime Minister, Muhammad Al-Sudani, met Sheikh Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayeb at the Sheikhdom’s headquarters in Cairo, during his official visit to the Arab Republic of Egypt.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister said: The region was subjected to a terrorist attack resulting from a distorted ideology that has nothing to do with religion, indicating that Iraq was one of the countries most affected by this terrorist attack, which it responded to valiantly, and stressed the importance of the moderate discourse prevailing, which represents the true spirit of Islam, which is based on coexistence, brotherhood, love and peace.
Al-Sudani extended an invitation to the Sheikh of Al-Azhar to visit Iraq, praising the honorable role of Al-Azhar and the position it enjoys among all Muslims, and stressed that his visit to Egypt is an expression of the spirit of brotherhood between the two countries, and an affirmation of the historical relations that unite them.
For his part, His Eminence Sheikh Al-Azhar said: Iraq is an important country in the Islamic world, and that the authentic Iraqi people were able to overcome their ordeal and stand on their feet despite all the challenges they faced. He expressed his welcome to the Prime Minister and his good advice about his government, promising to visit Iraq soon.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Mohamed Al-Sudani affirmed that the government based its submission of the tripartite budget on the clear reform vision adopted by the government program, while indicating that the amended items in the budget will be reviewed.
The Prime Minister said in a statement: “We extend our congratulations to our people, on the occasion of approving the Federal General Budget Law for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025, and we also express our thanks to the presidency and members of the esteemed Parliament, for the efforts that have been made, and the keenness to approve the budget.”
He added, “The budget that the Council of Ministers voted on last March 13 took into consideration priorities that affect the basic requirements of the individual and the family, and the livelihood of citizens, and seeks to meet their aspirations in what they expect from the government in terms of services, construction and infrastructure projects.”
He continued: Our government, by submitting the tripartite budget, relied on the clear reform vision that we adopted in the government program, which is a procedural and scientific step that carries solutions to the phenomenon of recurring or failing projects, which accompanied governments throughout the past years, stressing that “This vision would reduce operating spending, develop non-oil revenues, and support the private sector.”
He pointed out that “the government will work to review the items that have been amended in the budget, and study the extent of their conformity with the government’s vision and objectives approved in the ministerial program approved by the Parliament,” pointing out: “We highly appreciate all the efforts that have been made to approve the budget, and we particularly mention the members of the committee Parliamentary Finance, the Strategic Planning Committee, and the Parliamentary Federal Service, for what they have provided over the past period.
And about the budget, Al-Sabah newspaper said that after Parliament finished voting on the draft general budget for the years (2023, 2024, 2025), the Iraqis are waiting for its provisions to enter into force within ten days after the end of the technical matters related to legally rewriting the budget according to what Parliament voted on. And the Parliamentary Finance Committee announced that the draft budget and its amendments will reach the Presidency of the Republic today, Tuesday, for approval.
The value of the current year’s budget is 197 trillion and 828 billion Iraqi dinars (about $152.2 billion).
For his part, Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani stated that the government based its submission of the “tripartite budget” on the clear reform vision adopted by the government program, while indicating that the amended items in the budget would be reviewed.
The Prime Minister stated in a statement, yesterday, Monday, that “the budget that the Council of Ministers voted on last March 13, took into consideration priorities that affect the basic requirements of the individual and the family, and the livelihood of citizens, and seeks to meet their aspirations in what they expect from the government in terms of services, construction and infrastructure projects.”
Adviser to the Prime Minister Hisham al-Rikabi explained in a tweet on “Twitter”, that “after the House of Representatives voted on the federal budget for three years, the (reconstruction campaign) that Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani promised to implement will be launched very soon, according to what was stated in the government program.” He added “The features of the campaign will be construction, investment, combating poverty, raising the level of services, and implementing all reform packages,”
While the Advisor to the Prime Minister for Political Affairs, Fadi Al-Shammari, stated that “the tripartite budget will inevitably contribute to achieving economic stability and promoting development,” added, “We look forward to investing this event in transforming the country into a large workshop,” stressing that “the time has come to work together to achieve the vision our country and achieve sustainable development and reconstruction.
And regarding the executive path of the budget, a member of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Muhammad Jassim Al-Khafaji, explained, “There are articles that have been deleted from the budget, others added, and items that have been modified, that is, there have become variables on them, so it must be rewritten again according to the amendments and corrections that were made during the voting session.”
He added, “This copy of the budget will be submitted to the Presidency of the Republic for the purpose of approval and publication in the Official Gazette, and this procedure should not be delayed,” suggesting that “approving the budget takes between one week and ten days, and then it goes to the Ministry of Finance in order to issue instructions for its implementation and enters into effect.”
He indicated that “the issue of appealing the budget items by the government is up to it, because Parliament voted on it and made changes and amendments to it in accordance with the constitution and according to the powers granted to it. As for any item that the government believes that it has no benefit, it can appeal against it.”
Al-Khafaji added, “Parliament voted to start the budget from the beginning of the current year 2023, that is, retroactively and not from the date of the vote,” noting that this paragraph was controversial in Parliament.
In addition, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, MP Hussein Muanes, explained that the current budget will end 6,000 lagging projects, and added, “The number of failed and lagging ministerial projects has reached 6,240 projects, and therefore the committee decided to transfer the funds to the governorates, as they will be elected governments and will have the oversight of local councils that will be elected after months.
Al-Zaman newspaper said that a message sent by the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Massoud Barzani, spoiled the joy of approving the tripartite budget after months of stumbling.
In the letter addressed to public opinion, Barzani blamed those he described as chauvinistic parties and some political parties that practiced ingratitude and denial in an irresponsible manner with the aim of undermining the Kurdistan region, referring to the approval of Parliament, by a majority composed of members of the state coalition.
Barzani said (what happened in the past few days in Parliament has removed the mask and revealed the true face of the chauvinistic parties and their bargains and those who do not respect their covenants and signatures, they do not respect the constitution).
He added (and now that the draft budget law has been approved in the House of Representatives, I hope that its provisions will be implemented in good faith),
He stressed in a stern warning (that the Kurdistan region belongs to the Kurdish people, and the product of the blood, sacrifices and struggle of the Kurdish people. We strongly oppose any reckless attempt that seeks to undermine the entity of the region. For us, the Kurdistan region is not only a red line, but also a death line. Either Kurdistan or death).
On the other hand, the head of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Qais Khazali, blessed the approval of the budget, and considered it an achievement that contributes to advancing the wheel of construction and reconstruction, and stressed that (the tripartite budget project includes important materials that meet a large percentage of the aspirations of the poor and people with limited income).
The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, blessed the Iraqi people for approving the budget, stressing that (the Parliamentary Finance Committee made great efforts to ripen the paragraphs of the budget law and to include the rights of citizens).
He said in a statement yesterday that (the current budget focused on reducing spending and increasing non-oil revenues to maximize state revenues, as well as supporting farmers who use modern irrigation systems, implementing service and strategic projects, and establishing a reconstruction fund for the poorest governorates, with the aim of achieving balance in development and improving its reality, in addition to grant sufficient allocations to provide the requirements of the Ministry of Electricity and the ration card, to secure the necessary sums for the continuation of the work of oil companies, to carry out the necessary transfers, and to support the publication of scientific research within the international levels).
The head of the National Wisdom Movement, Ammar al-Hakim, appreciated the efforts of the parliament in drafting, discussing and approving the tripartite budget, and congratulated Iraqi people.
The political office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party said in a statement, “Out of a sense of responsibility towards the living conditions of the people of Kurdistan, our party made all its efforts to establish the rights and entitlements of the people of Kurdistan in the provisions and paragraphs of the Federal Budget Law for the year 2023 according to the constitutional entitlements and the State Administration Agreement that resulted in the current government, and based on the agreement between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government).
It stressed that (our party was able, with great effort, to thwart all the carefully organized plots that targeted the sovereignty of the region, interfered in its affairs, spread division among its leaders and entity, and reduced its constitutional powers).
The party admitted (although our aspirations were not fully realized in the budget law, as it was supposed to implement what was stated in the text of the federal government without any deficiency, but in order to enable the government to pay salaries, continue investments, and reduce problems, we decided to approve the budget law).
Citizens considered Parliament’s rejection of Article 42 of fees on revenues from sales of gasoline, kerosene, black oil and imported fuel a positive achievement that would end the demonstrations of workers in the Basra and Dhi Qar oil companies.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency