Thursday, November 09, 2006
New political party rumoured
Politics
Al-Sharq al-Awsat has learned from informed sources that a group of politicians working in the government, men of religion, and political organizations have agreed to hold a unified conference to establish an Iraqi national gathering away from other [political] groupings. The conference, the sources noted, would undertake the task of solving the aggravating Iraqi problems and putting an end to the US interference in decision-making.
The sources said that the Supporters of the [Islamic] Call Organization in Iraq [Munazzamat Ansar al-Da'wah Fil Iraq] has launched extensive efforts and received the consent of many personalities to join. These include Parliament Speaker Mahmud al-Mashhadani; members of the Iraqi List, chiefly Rida al-Basri; and prominent figures from the Al-Sadr Movement, Al-Fadilah [Virtue] Party, and other parties. The Supporters of the Islamic Call Organization yesterday issued a statement, in which it said that this grouping "will be detached from the [prevailing] inclinations and will adopt an Iraqi solution to the aggravating problems with national unity as its basis so that the solution will not be a US solution, which would dissipate everything to safeguard its [US] interests, as is clear from the progress of events".
Abbas al-Bayyati, an Iraqi Parliament member representing the Unified Iraqi [Coalition] list, told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that the upcoming reconciliation conference does not exclude any party or movement, involved or not involved in the political process, through an emphasis on freedom, democracy, and equality. He added that the [Arab Socialist] Ba'th Party, as an organization and a political front, "is constitutionally banned; however, persons who had earlier served in the party and are now using other political fronts or acting on their own are concerned with participation".
The sources said that the Supporters of the [Islamic] Call Organization in Iraq [Munazzamat Ansar al-Da'wah Fil Iraq] has launched extensive efforts and received the consent of many personalities to join. These include Parliament Speaker Mahmud al-Mashhadani; members of the Iraqi List, chiefly Rida al-Basri; and prominent figures from the Al-Sadr Movement, Al-Fadilah [Virtue] Party, and other parties. The Supporters of the Islamic Call Organization yesterday issued a statement, in which it said that this grouping "will be detached from the [prevailing] inclinations and will adopt an Iraqi solution to the aggravating problems with national unity as its basis so that the solution will not be a US solution, which would dissipate everything to safeguard its [US] interests, as is clear from the progress of events".
Abbas al-Bayyati, an Iraqi Parliament member representing the Unified Iraqi [Coalition] list, told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that the upcoming reconciliation conference does not exclude any party or movement, involved or not involved in the political process, through an emphasis on freedom, democracy, and equality. He added that the [Arab Socialist] Ba'th Party, as an organization and a political front, "is constitutionally banned; however, persons who had earlier served in the party and are now using other political fronts or acting on their own are concerned with participation".
COMMENT: This could be a new development to rival a planned new party announced on Nov. 2 or it may be the same expanded. Based on the names mentioned, this party would have Shia (al-Sadr, Al-Fadilah), secular (Iraqi List) and Sunni (Mahmud al-Mashhadani - allegedly has affiliations to Sunni insurgent groups Ansar al-Islam and Jaish Ansar al-Sunna) elements. The announcement made on Nov. 2 by the Nasirite Vanguard Socialist Party said that 'Iraqi pan-Arab, Nasirist, national, and Islamic forces will soon announce the formation of a new political front' whose members believe in "the Arabism and independence of Iraq, reject sectarianism and ethnic distribution, and support the unity of Iraq's territory and people,". The front is allegedly backed by the Islamic Army in Iraq and other resistance groups. So the ideologies are the same. The three elements mentioned have at least one thing in common, they want a united Iraq. COMMENT ENDS.
