Analysts call for rationalizing govtKurdistan RegionG differences

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Analysts called to rationalize the differences between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government Kurdistan RegionG) through quiet objective dialogue away from emotional and tense statements. “Dialogue would be the best way to settle differences, particularly with the challenges facing the country,” Ra’ed Fahmi, the chairman of the committee on article 150, told IraqiNews.com. Differences surfaced recently between Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Kurdistan RegionG over the sahwa (awakening) councils, the constitution and oil contracts. Fahmi said that the bones of contention “are serious and require serious discussions, which revealed that no party can force a solution with others’ participation”. “These arguments occur in an atmosphere of challenges facing the country, topped by the security pact that everyone agreed would need a wide national consensus,” he added. The Iraqi cabinet on Sunday had approved with an overwhelming majority of 27 votes to one the security deal between Iraq and the United States, also known as the status of forces agreement (SOFA), and was referred to Parliament for voting. SOFA should legalize the presence of U.S. forces on Iraqi territories after the end of this year, when the deadline given for a UN Security Council mandate for the U.S. army to intervene in Iraq is scheduled to expire. SOFA had drawn wide-scale local popular and political controversy after the cabinet endorsed it on Sunday, particularly from the Sadrist bloc of Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr. In accordance with the Iraqi constitution, SOFA cannot be effective before the parliament approves it. “The way to deal with these differences should take into account the prerequisites of achieving accordance. There are several channels for dialogue at the level of political powers like the Presidential Board (PB), the Quadruple Council, and the Executive Council,” said Fahmi. He indicated that these structures should be capable of discussing all points of differences under a profound dialogue. A war of words escalated between the Kurdish leaders and Iraqi Premier Maliki recently over the sahwa councils he called to form in Kirkuk province, while the Kurds considered these calls as undermining their demands to annex the oil-rich city to their autonomous region. Maliki also reiterated calls to introduce amendments into the Iraqi constitution on the grounds that “the contracts signed by the Kurdistan RegionG with foreign corporations are running counter to the constitution”. Hussain Sinjari, the president of Tolerancy International, told IraqiNews.com that the current differences should be a healthy sign so that the public would get to know the truth about what is going on. “The most important thing is to avoid having these differences developing into antagonism and emotional reactions,” he said. Tolerancy International is a non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in January 2007 by Sinjari, a former Kurdish Minister. An independent liberal organization, it is based in Arbil, the capital of the Region of Iraqi Kurdistan. Fouad Ghazi, the editor-in-chief of al-Mashreq newspaper, said the differences under the current circumstances make sense. “The visions are not clear as far as the constitution is concerned, bearing in mind that each party reads the constitution in accordance with its interests,” he said. AmR (I)/SR 3