The newspapers issued today, Tuesday, focused on the tripartite budget enter into force, after it was published in the Iraqi official newspaper, and that Parliament will host a number of ministers next Saturday.
Al-Zawraa newspaper, which is issued by the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, quoted Hanan Munther Nassif, the Director General of the Iraqi official newspaper at the Ministry of Justice, on Monday, announcing the publication of instructions for implementing the general budget law for the fiscal years (2023-2024-2025).
Nassif said in a statement, “Instructions No. (1) for the year 2023 facilitating the implementation of the Federal General Budget Law of the Republic of Iraq for the fiscal years (2023-2024-2025) No. (13) for the year 2023 were published in the official newspaper.”
She emphasized that “Instructions No. (1) for the year 2023 are considered retroactively effective from the date 1/1/2023.” And she explained that “the Ministry of Justice made exceptional efforts to publish it in the official newspaper, through procedures for checking articles in accordance with the law.”
The Federal Supreme Court announced yesterday the resolution of the appeal of the federal and regional governments to the budget law.
The court stated in a statement: “The Federal Supreme Court considered this day (yesterday) the case No. (153 / Federal / 2023) filed before it by the plaintiff (Prime Minister) against the defendant (Speaker of Parliament) concerning the appeal against articles of Law No. (13) of 2023 (The Federal General Budget of the Republic of Iraq for the fiscal years (2023, 2024, 2025)”.
Al-Sabah newspaper focused on the issue of the parliament hosting a number of ministers and said that the parliament has set a session next Saturday to host the ministers of interior and finance in parliament, provided that the hosting is by oral questioning, while the date for the interrogation of the minister of education has not been set, with the assumption that it will be next week.
Raed al-Maliki, a member of the House of Representatives for the Legal Committee, said, “Next week will witness the hosting of the Minister of Interior regarding two cases,” without disclosing their details.
He added, "The Minister of Finance will be hosted on one issue related to digital transformation and automation, and she will be asked about her procedures regarding this issue, not an accusation or interrogation about a specific issue."
He explained that "hosting the Ministers of Interior and Finance will be through oral questioning and not through interrogation.
Regarding hosting the governor of the central bank, Ali Al-Alaq, MP Al-Maliki explained that “hosting the governor of the central bank has not been formally decided yet, and no request has been submitted for interrogation, although the requests for hosting are many, but the presidency of Parliament sometimes hinders his presence, given that there are arguments, including that such hosting or accountability may cause confusion in exchange rates, the market, and other procedures.
He continued, "The Minister of Education has an interrogation, not an oral question, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives has informed the parliament that there is an interrogation of the Minister of Education, but the date has not been set, and it is likely that this will be included during the schedule next week."
Al-Zaman newspaper focused on the issue of human rights and said that Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani and House Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi met with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Volker Türk, in the presence of the UN representative, Jeanine Plasschaert.
A statement said that (Al-Sudani, during his reception of Volker Türk and his accompanying delegation, which includes the head of the Asia, Pacific, Middle East and North Africa department in the commission, Francesco Motta and spokeswoman for the commission, Ravina Shamdsani, appreciated the visit, which he considered a message of support for all Iraqis, and an encouragement to continue work in ensuring human rights. It represents the first visit of a High Commissioner for Human Rights to Iraq.
Al-Sudani confirmed the approval of the Council of Ministers on the draft law to combat enforced disappearance, which is now in the House of Representatives for the purpose of voting on it.
He expressed Iraq's appreciation for the efforts of the High Commissioner in condemning the repeated assault on the sanctity of the Holy Qur'an, which intersects with the concept of freedom of opinion and expression, which is a form of transgression and contempt of religions and an attempt to stir up strife.
For his part, Türk said that (the timing of his visit came at a sensitive time, since Iraq is one of the countries most affected by climate change in order to help face this challenge within economic, social and cultural rights), stressing that (Iraq is a diverse country in its components, and this is a factor of strength for it to throughout history), calling for (work to promote national dialogue and uncover the missing and absent in all crises).
In turn, the Speaker of Parliament stressed the importance of completing the formation of the Human Rights Commission.
A statement said that (Al-Halbousi met with Türk, and they discussed issues related to human rights and existing laws that will be presented in the House of Representatives, related to enforced disappearance, freedom of expression and organizing media work, and the importance of completing the formation of the Human Rights Commission by the Council, and they also discussed the conditions of the missing and displaced, and files related to climate change.
In Erbil, the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, discussed with the High Commissioner, who arrived after the conclusion of his visit to Baghdad, the principles of human rights protection.
Yesterday's statement said, "Barzani made it clear during the meeting that the people of Kurdistan have been subjected throughout history to many tragedies of massacres, genocides and violations of their rights, and they sacrificed a lot in order to obtain their legitimate rights, and for this he takes into consideration the principles of protecting rights and promoting the values of freedom and democracy," calling to (put an end to the violations practiced against the rights of the people, and also urge the international community to help us in order to obtain our legitimate rights, and to prevent the recurrence of massacres and genocides against Kurdistan),
Barzani presented (an overview of the comprehensive reforms initiated by the ninth ministerial formation, especially its endorsement and approval of the five-year plan aimed at protecting human rights and combating violence and extremism, specifically combating violence against women).
For his part, Türk expressed his thanks and appreciation to the concerned authorities in the Kurdistan government for their cooperation and coordination with the United Nations, especially in the field of human rights protection.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency