Al-Rafidain Center for Dialogue RCD with the Middle East Research Institute (MERI) organized a joint meeting and sponsored open dialogue sessions in Najaf between a delegation from the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and prominent political elite from Najaf and Baghdad, including leaders and decision makers.

The MERI Foundation delegation included Dr. Dallahauer Alaaddin, the head of the Foundation, Dr. Abdullah Al-Weissi, President of the Union of Islamic Scholars in Kurdistan, Prof. Jaafar Aminki, Deputy Speaker of the Kurdistan Regional Parliament, Prof. Saadi Ahmed Bireh, member of the Political Bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Prof. Hadi Ali, Chairman of the Political Body of the Kurdistan Islamic Union, Mr. Xuan Raber, Rapporteur of the Leadership Council of the Islamic Movement and members of the Iraqi Parliament, Professors Arafat Karam (Democratic Party), Mahmoud Reda (Movement for Change), Muthanna Amin (Islamic Union), and researchers  Academics from the MERI Foundation, Professors Khasakir, Ria, Yasser Al-Kuti and Fouad Ali Smile. The visit was part of a memorandum of cooperation agreed by the two organizing sides of the visit, the MERI Foundation and RCD, with the aim of organizing a series of dialogue programs aimed at establishing community peace and creating the right climate for constructive dialogue between the center and the region.

The program included two dialogue sessions held at the Sergio de Mello Hall at the Headquarters of the Rafidain Dialogue Center, where the first session entitled "The Future of Governance in Iraq: Crises and Partnership Opportunities" talked about the systematic foundations of governance and how to apply it in Iraq in the light of a crisis in state administration between the governments of the Center and the region, where participants reviewed - in a dialogue atmosphere characterized by frankness and acceptance of opinions - many wrong policies on both sides that caused the escalation of the crisis. While the second session was held in the form of a round table entitled (The role of decision makers and the political elite in building trust between Iraqi components), managed by Professor Omar Al-Shaher, media advisor at the Rafidain Dialogue Center, With the participation of a group of Iraqi political figures representing the ruling parties, including Dr. Ahmed Al-Futlawi, Professor Sami al-Askari, Professor Adnan al-Zarfi, Dr. Nassar al-Rubaie and Professor Ali al-Muayyad, many topics were discussed, such as the impact of constitutional texts on the distribution of wealth and the effects of the application of the federal system in Iraq. The session concluded that it was important to invoke the Constitution, adopt consensual democracy that guaranteed the rights of all, and reject past differences and convulsive speeches once and for all to build confidence between the components in a real and clear way.

Mr. Zeid Al-Talqani, President of the Rafidain Centre for Dialogue RCD, stressed that the Centre had not stopped trying to bring the views of the parties in the governments of the Centre and the Region closer together with a view to bringing community peace, and supporting the democratic experience and moving towards building a prosperous homeland. Mr. Dlawaher Aladdin, President of the Middle East Research Foundation MERI, stressed that these sessions are neutral and informal academic sessions aimed at pressuring decision makers to establish the status of a state of citizenship.

The conclusion:

After holding the two dialogue sessions between representatives of the Kurdish blocs with a group of clerics, academics and representatives of Shiite political entities, a set of points that resulted from the two sessions can be diagnosed, the most important of which is: consensus on the importance of dialogue as the only way out of crises that stand in the way of peaceful coexistence in Iraq, and agreeing on the need to abide by the permanent Iraqi constitution as a reference for resolving differences. Several views have emerged that represent different views from the parties, including the Kurdish side's feeling that their contribution to the construction of a new Iraq has not been taken into account by the Shiite component, but nevertheless, everyone stressed the need for political parties to adhere to the principles of the federal constitution selectively and to work for an institutional Iraq in which law and good governance prevail.

The following is a brief overview of the most important things that took place during the two sessions and the recommendations i made.

First session

"Governance in Iraq: Crises and Partnership Opportunities"

Date: 28 February 2018

Moderator: Journalist Mohammed Al-Momen.

The session was initiated by Dr. Dlawaher Aladdin, President of the Middle East Research Foundation MERI, by giving an overview of the political situation in Iraq, indicating that Iraq, because of the weakness of its central government, became under the influence of regional players who emerged after the end of the Cold War. With regard to the political crises in Iraq, Aladdin said the constitution has succeeded in the tests it has gone through and therefore can be governed among the conflicting parties. From their side, the participants spoke openly and purposefully, as they put forward their views on the political partnership in Iraq. In its interventions, the Kurdish delegation focused on the historical relations between the Kurds and shiites, and stressed the role played by the Kurds in establishing the new political system in Iraq, especially the adoption of the permanent constitution, and explained that the holding of the referendum was aimed at obtaining a mandate from the people and was not aimed at declaring a state. Participants from Najaf, who expressed their views on the nature of the relationship that ruled the region after 2003, stressed that the oppressed before 2003 is the characteristic of all components and does not specialize in one component without another, as they stressed that the religious reference in Najaf was and continues to defend all components.

Session 2: Round Table"

"The role of decision makers and the political elite in building trust between Iraqi components."

Venue: Sergio de Mello Hall / Headquarters of the Rafidain Dialogue Center in Najaf.

Date: 1/3/2018

Moderator: Journalist Omar Al-Shaher, Media Advisor to the Rafidain Dialogue Center.

Participants from the Shiite host side: Dr. Ahmed Al-Futlawi, member of the Political Bureau of the National Wisdom Movement, Professor Sami al-Askari/ Advisor to the Vice President of the Republic / Leader of the State of Law Coalition / Dr. Nassar al-Rubaie / Former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs / Leader of the Sadrist Movement / Mr. Adnan Al-Zarfi, Head of the Iraqi Wafa Movement / Leader of the Victory Coalition / Mr. Ali Al-Muayyad / Member of the Political Bureau of the National Wisdom Movement.

Participants from the Kurdish side of the Miri Foundation delegation: Dr. Dlawhahr Aladdin/ President of the Middle East Research Foundation MERI, Professor Saadi Ahmed Beer /Member of the Political Bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Professor Jaafar Ibrahim Aminki / Deputy Speaker of the Kurdistan Regional Parliament / Member of the Political Bureau of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Mr. Hadi Ali/Chairman of the Political Body of the Kurdistan Islamic Union, Professor Mahmoud Reda, Leader of the Movement for Change.

The round table was characterized by serious debate away from political courtesies, as participants from Kurdistan region focused on the fact that the motive for the referendum was the central government's dealings with the territory, and they believed that the federal government's actions towards the region after the referendum such as the issue of salaries and the entitlements of farmers amounted to collective sanctions against the Kurdish component, that the referendum is a legal procedure in accordance with international law and that the government's reaction after the referendum is unjustified. For their part, representatives of Shiite political entities stressed the need to invoke the constitution and that the relationship between the center and the region should be among the federal foundations applicable in other federal countries, i.e. the central government should exercise its sovereign powers over all Iraqi territory.

Summarizing the political situation in Iraq and the opportunities for reform:

Dr. Dlahu R. Aladdin, President of the Meri Foundation

·         Iraq has become a victim of the political equations of regional powers that emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as Iraq is now affected by regional players and does not affect them, as a result of the weakness of the central government.

·          The removal of the dictatorship removed the biggest obstacle to building a prosperous state.

·         The adoption of the country's permanent constitution was the result of Kurdish Arab cohesion.

·         The question that arises: What happened? Is there a flaw in the constitution or is there a flaw in those who apply it? Many of Iraq’s crises have been resolved by the Constitution.

·         The failure of the ruling political class to consolidate the principles of good governance and establish a political system based on the rule of law leading to development and prosperity.

·         Twelve years after the adoption of the permanent constitution, the bonds between the components have been weakened, and there is a fragmentation within the same component, and it is even more dangerous to arm everyone.

·         There is a failure by the central government because it did not embrace everyone, and there is a failure on the components, the Sunni and the Kurds did not invest properly in the government and did not work to implement the constitution.

·         The parliament failed to fill legislative loopholes to achieve peaceful coexistence, for example, the Federal Court was not formed and no regions other than Kurdistan were formed and as a result the situation reached the point where other provinces demanded the installation of other provinces like Kurdistan province, which in turn demands the powers of a larger than what the Constitution has set for it.

There is an opportunity for optimism to reach a prosperous Iraq because of:

1-      The cooperation between the central government and the territorial government and their success in defeating ISIS.

2-      Iraqi government promises to fight corruption

3-      International support for stability in Iraq.

A vision put forward by members of the Meri delegation to the concept of national partnership:

·         The Kurds' relationship with Shiites is historical, so it dates back to the period of joint struggle against the dictatorships that ruled Iraq before 2003, and the Kurds respect the religious authority and praise its historical positions, particularly Mr. Hakim's fatwa on the prohibition of Kurdish blood.

·         Kurds played an important role in establishing the new political system in Iraq after 2003, as they were credited with adopting the permanent constitution, "the vote of the Kurdish component inside Mosul in favor of the constitution enabled it to pass"

·         The unit is a voluntary issue and cannot be imposed by force, and the Kurds voluntarily chose the unit to be part of Iraq after enjoying independent status between 1991 and 2003.

·         Federalism and political partnership or consensual democracy are all agreed issues before the overthrow of the regime and during Iraqi opposition conferences held just before the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in Washington, London and Salaheddine.

·         The Kurds have actively contributed to the fight against the terrorist group ISIS in order to liberate Iraqi territory, with more than 1,800 Kurdish martyrs during the fight against ISIS.

·         The referendum was not aimed at declaring a state or demarcating borders, but rather at obtaining a popular mandate for the territorial government to deal with the central government after relations strained.

·         The referendum is legally valid on the basis of the right to self-determination in international law, but the political appreciation of the positions of neighbouring countries has not been correct.

·         Payment of salaries and dues from the necessary claims for Kurds, as the Kurd considers that the failure to pay the dues of citizens in the region is a kind of collective punishment and they are waiting for a positive attitude from the government and waiting for the religious authority in Najaf to intervene in this regard and the referendum cannot be a justification for imposing such measures.

·         Not all political movements in the region were in favor of the referendum, and the Change Movement and jemaah Islamiyah "stood against the referendum from A to Z."

·         There was a case of selective handling of the Constitution by the central government.

·         The issue of guarantees is more important to Kurds than the territory's share of the budget.

·         The view of representatives of political entities and the Hawzawi and academic elite from Najaf and Baghdad:

·         The danger of independence for part of Iraq is parallel to that of isis's control of parts of Iraq, and a strong government cannot be built and some Iraqis are opening up loopholes that could weaken Iraq.

·         Kurds are contributors to political decision-making in Iraq, as they hold high political positions such as the post of president of the republic, as well as the presence of dozens of Kurdish deputies in parliament.

·         The relationship that ruled Kurdistan with Baghdad was not balanced, as the central government does not act within the region as the Kurds do within the central government.

·         The Kurdish secession project has been planned and maintained since 2003 as the Kurds sought to strengthen their influence in order to achieve this project. The policy of the Kurd Ministers In the federal government it was aiming to achieve that goal.

·         The voluntary Acceptance of Kurds to be part of Iraq after 2003 cannot be reversed and calling for independence, as this issue is resolved only once.

·         All Iraqi components suffered persecution and injustice, as brutal repression and mass graves did not belong only to the Kurdish component, as the people of the centre and the south suffered targeting and mass graves. Today, the Sunnis are displaced by the presence of three million displaced persons.

·         The implementation of the Federal system has led to the creation of two states in Iraq, as many sovereign areas were under the control of the territory and not the central government, such as border crossings. The Supplier did not give up some symbolic issues, such as retaining the name of the Peshmerga and The Asayish instead of the official designation of "Iraqi Police"

·         Iraqis have gone beyond calling for Arab nationalism, while the Kurds have not left the call for Kurdish nationalism.

Solutions:

Although there are differing views on many of the points mentioned above, many points have been raised that could form a road map for resolving the crisis of coexistence between the central government on the one hand and the Kurdistan region on the other, including:

·         The relationship between the Territory and the Centre should be identified and reviewed.

·         The need for mutual respect between the various Iraqi components, as it is a principle of democracy.

·         The advancement of sub-identities over national identity makes it difficult to build a strong political system that can advance the country. Hence, we must work to establish a state of citizenship, not a state of ingredients, so the state of components cannot be strong.

·         The need to abide by the Constitution as the whole contract for Iraqis.

·         The need for a clear and frank commitment from the Kurds to the decision of the Federal Court regarding the referendum.

·         Wealth must be distributed fairly among all Iraqis.

·         The upcoming elections are a historic opportunity for correction.

·         Do not use force to solve problems.

·         The basics of the federal state should be preserved, including the security services and border ports under the authority of the central government.

·         The Iraqi State must be an inclusive national State for all Iraqis.

Concessions must be made by all parties for the benefit of all, and there can be no multiple options, but the choice of home and dialogue must be the only option that