The Common Ills: Hayder al-Abadi catches one break

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Hayder al-Abadi catches one break

IHEC warns off candidates from starting their election campaigns before the designated time which starts at April 10th, 2018. 

Penalties range from paying money to being disqualified from the elections for repeating offenders. 

#IraqiElections2018

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What a load of nonsense. Hayder al-Abadi's used every Wednesday for the last two months to promote his candidacy. IHEC is not independent. Worse yet, the Justice and Accountability Commission remains in effect and will be vetting candidates yet again.

Nouri al-Maliki's used the commission repeatedly to prevent political rivals from running.

Atheel al-Nujaifi has long been a thorn in Nouri's side. The former governor of Nineveh Province is in the news right now because, as ALSUMARIA reports, there are rumors that an arrest warrant has been issued for him. Along with being a former governor, Atheel is also the brother of Osama al-Nujaifi who is currently Vice President of Iraq (one of three) as well as being the former Speaker of Parliament. If an arrest warrant has been issued, this will be seen poorly for Hayder al-Abadi. It will remind many of the arrest warrants Nouri, while prime minister, released against Sunni politicians -- including then-Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi.

In 2017, Tareq discussed Nouri's efforts in great detail. AL ARABIYA reported:

Hashemi recounted the beginning of the problem which broke out between him and Nouri al-Maliki, asserting that “Maliki asked me to leave Iraq in exchange of dropping all the charges against me and releasing my security personnel.”

He also requested that the deputies of Al Iraqiyya bloc end the boycott of parliamentary sessions, and that “I declare that Diyala has no right to become a county.”

Revealing that he left Iraq after “two formal invitations I received from Qatar and Turkey,” after all mediations failed, and especially after President Jalal Talabani, told him that “there is no hope in solving this issue, after his envoy returned from Tehran.”

As for why he was targeted, the former Iraqi Vice President said that deputy Muwaffaq al-Rubaie had asked Prime Minister al-Maliki, about the reasons behind the witch hunt of al-Hashemi, and the latter had answered him: “Ask commander Qassim Soleimani,” referring to the commander of the Quds Force.

It's past time the commission was abolished. It serves no real purpose.

That's Hayder al-Abadi saying, December 9, 2017, that ISIS has been "completely evicted" from Iraq.

Didn't turn out quite the way he bragged, did it?

In a bit of good news for Hayder, ALSUMARIA reports that Sadiq al-Shirazi's son Hussein al-Shirazi has been released in Iran. Hussein and his father are citizens of Iran but they are also citizens of Iraq and the arrest of the Shi'ite cleric Hussein had enraged Shi'ites in Iraq.

Ali Mamouri (AL-MONITOR) reports:

Iraqi demonstrations against Hussein Shirazi's arrest broke out in front of the Iranian Consulate in Karbala, the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad and near the border with Iran in Basra. The protesters shouted slogans against the Iranian regime's ongoing repression of their religious leaders in Iran, and demanded Shirazi's immediate release. They also called on Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and his government to intervene and pressure Iran to release Shirazi.

In London, members of the Iraqi community protested in front of the Iranian Embassy. Four people were arrested after they climbed onto the porch and lowered the Iranian flag and then raised the Shirazi flag. British police intervened to restore calm.

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Hillary's Tainted Get Out The Vote Effort" went up earlier today. The following community sites updated: