2nd meeting of Leaders of Political Parties to convene Saturday

BAGHDAD / Asat al-Iraq: The next meeting of Leaders of Iraq’s Political Parties will be held next Saturday, according to a Presidency statement on Wednesday, saying that Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani had visited the Leader of al-Iraqiya Coalition, Iyad Allawi, with both Leaders have confirmed that the said Leaders meeting “would be positive and fruitful.”   “Due to the busy schedule of the Political Blocks with the meetings of the Parliament, and due to the requests by a group of them, it is decided that the time of the meeting of the Leaders and Chairmen of the political blocs would be held on Saturday evening, July 30, 2011,” the statement reported.   Noteworthy is that the Leaders of the Political Blocs had met on Saturday, July 9 th , under patronage of President Jalal Talabani, presence of Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, Parliament Speaker, Usama al-Nujeify, Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, Mid’hat al-Mahmoud, Leader of the National Council, Ibrahim al-Jaafary, Leader of al-Iraqiya Coalition, Iyad Allawi, Deputy Prime Minister and Representative of the Kurdistan President, Roz Nouri Shawes, Chairman of the Supreme Islamic Council, Ammar al-Hakim, as well as the Vice-Presidents and Deputy Prime-Ministers and a number of Parliament members.   The meeting had discussed the recent developments on the political arena, along with the issue of the presence of the U.S. forces in Iraq after their scheduled withdrawal by the end of the current year.   In a related matter, the Presidential statement pointed out that President Jalal Talabani had conferred on Tuesday night with the Chairman of al-Iraqiya Coalition, Iyad Allawi.   “Discussed in the meeting were the political situation, the Regional issues and developments, witnessed in the Area,” the statement stressed.   It said that the meeting had “confirmed necessity to march forward in the joint action, to guarantee that the next meeting of Leaders of the Political Forces would achieve positive and fruitful results that cope with the current phase of the country’s history, the phase of stability, building and reconstruction, that is witnessing the world’s heading towards Iraq.”   The statement pointed out that President Talabani and Allawi have “reiterated necessity for achieving a genuine national-partnership on the country’s administration and commitment towards the implementation of the agreements, concluded among the Political Blocs, especially the Arbil Agreement and Kurdistn President Massoud Barzani’s Initiative.”   Iraq is witnessing political crisis, since March 2010 nationwide elections, in the background of mistrust between the largest two partners in the Parliament and the government, the State of Law, led by Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki and al-Iraqiya Coalition, led by Iyad Allawi.   The differences between both Coalitions are concentrated on some of the items of Arbil Agreement, including the draft-law of the National Council for Strategic Policies (NCSP), for which al-Iraqiya Coalition is demanding that its Leader Allawi Chair, whilst the National Coalition demands that such position be granted the post of Secretary-General and not Chairman, along with other differences about the assignment of security cabinet ministers, with both sides refusing the candidates of the other. 1109