Baghdad The newspapers issued in Baghdad today, Thursday, March 2, followed the visit of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, to Iraq and the attempts to amend the Iraqi constitution and other issues, including the problem of drought.
On the visit of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Al-Zaman newspaper focused on Guterres’ assertion that his visit to Baghdad came to confirm solidarity with the Iraqis.
It quoted him as saying in a press conference: “The challenges facing Iraq came as a result of decades of wars and interventions, and there was hope for progress.”
He went on to say: “Iraq will break the cycle of instability and fragility and move towards more freedom and peace.”
The newspaper referred to the statement of Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani at the conference: “The government is moving towards establishing an equation of stability, and Iraq plays a leading role among brothers and friends.”
Al-Sudani added, “We are working to find economic partnerships, since Iraq has natural and human resources.”
He continued: “The government continues to work to hold the Baghdad conference in its third edition according to the vision of the new government, and everyone must meet in Baghdad according to the vision of economy and partnership.”
The Prime Minister pointed out: “Iraq is facing climate challenges and the high rate of desertification, and there are sites included in the World Heritage List that are threatened due to water scarcity, and we are waiting for the United Nations to support efforts to confront these challenges.”
As for Al-Sabah newspaper, which is published by the Iraqi Media Network, it has followed up attempts to amend the constitution and the possibility of putting it forward in the current parliamentary session.
In this regard, it quoted a member of the Legal Committee in the House of Representatives, Muhammad Jassem Al-Khafaji, saying: “The absence of a national political agreement and a common vision that contributes to the ripening of the constitutional amendment and the problems of the current situation, led to the failure to propose the amendment during the current parliamentary session in an effective and serious manner, despite the popular consensus on its necessity.”
Al-Khafaji added: “The life span of constitutions may range between 25-30 years, after which it requires amendment or change according to the political and social environment of the country concerned, and Iraq is no exception to that and amendments can be made very early, if requested, regardless of the age of the constitution. This is what we need right now.”
He explained that: “Early and late attempts were made to amend the constitution, but all of them faltered, which led to the amendment of the 2005 constitution exceeding its life span, and early or late attempts to amend it faltered and most of them were not serious about the truth.”
The MP of the Ishraqa Kanoon bloc stated: “There are many constitutional legal formulations that can be proposed for amendment as well, given the problems they bear, and we do not overlook at the same time the problem of applying the constitution originally by most of the political forces, as they have been working contrary to the constitution, through political consensus.”
In another matter, Al-Zawraa newspaper, published by the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, followed up on the problem of drought and its dangerous effects. It referred to the reasons identified by the Ministry of Water Resources for this problem.
It quoted a spokesman for the Ministry of Water Resources, Khaled Shamal: “This dry season includes the region, and Iraq is one of the most affected countries, and it is the fifth country in the world in terms of the impact of drought.”
The spokesman added: “The water releases that come to Iraq are affected by the policies of the water neighboring countries Turkey, Syria and Iran and the extent of their commitment to securing quotas and their implementation of major irrigation projects such as dams and major reclamation projects that do not take into account the rights of Iraq and do not coordinate with the Iraqi side, as well as global warming and climate changes that experienced in the region.”
He explained: “70% of Iraq’s flows come from abroad and the rest from the inside, and currently the abroad flows are less than 30%,” noting: “The problems between Iraq, Turkey, Iraq and Iran is in the absence of a binding agreement with the water-neighboring countries to meet the Iraq water quota.”
Shamal continued: “The other side is related to the internal problem, which is exceeding the water quotas, in addition to that 70% of the total water need goes to agriculture, and the agricultural field we have is a primitive field and irrigation methods are primitive and there is a lack of rationalization of water consumption, and the Ministry of Agriculture still lives in the illusion of water abundance, stressing the need for an agricultural revolution in this aspect and that requires legislation./ End
Source: National Iraqi News Agency