Political failure will worsen Iraq crisis

Former Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi said in an interview with Arabstoday that if the national conference for political blocs failed, the crisis facing the country will only continue. He said the only solution was that the Iraqis need to be united with a common cause. “The constitution is the highest document that could get Iraq out of its crisis...It will benefit Iraq if the principles of the constitution are agreed on,” he said. “We witness daily the fall of our martyrs. National unity will not be achieved through compromises, which would only contribute to the success of politicians and their parties, while the citizens and the nations will lose out.” He said “terrorism and violence will not stop by words, but it can be stopped by the constitutional and national legitimacy”. Abul-Mahdi explained: “Previous discussions did not deal with the constitution properly. The constitution is essentially principles, institutions, powers, procedures, spirit and text, so whatever text eventually written in the constitution would be constitutional if it was in harmony with the spirit of the constitution. And then any road map - like the Erbil Agreement - would achieve its goal.” He added: “The constitution entails institutions ruling individuals and parties, not the other way around. It means the people wil rule, and no more terrorism. And it means individual and collective freedoms and rights, segregation of authorities, respecting powers. The constitution means the parliament being the core of the regime and that the nation will not be governed by a military ruler, but in a democratic manner except in states of emergency or war.” Abdul-Mahdi warned that the crisis might be an introduction for the imposition of aid, which would divert political attention to parties such as Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others.