Iraqi president against boycott of Israel
06/28/2022
Iraqi President Barham Saleh refused to ratify the law banning the normalization of relations with Israel. This is reported by TASS with reference to the statements of the leader of the Iraqi Shiites - Muqtada al-Sadr.
“It is shameful that the so-called President of Iraq refuses to ratify the bill criminalizing normalization. It is a shame to the people to have a president who advocates normalization. I renounce this crime and apologize that I had earlier nominated him for the presidency, ”the agency quotes the words of the politician.
A bill banning the normalization of relations with Israel was passed by the Iraqi parliament a month ago and is awaiting its entry into force after ratification by the country's president. The document assumed a ban on the establishment of absolutely all - diplomatic, political, military, economic, cultural and other relations with Israel. Any form of normalization of relations with Israel was subject to criminal liability.
In particular, citizens of Iraq, under the threat of life imprisonment, were forbidden "to visit Israel or its embassies in other countries, as well as to establish contacts with them." Except for religious pilgrimages. Even Iraqi parliamentarians appealed to the League of Arab States and called on the participating countries to abandon the use of the name "Israel" in official documents, replacing the wording with "Zionist entity".
Recall that the term of office of the current president has expired. Iraq is a parliamentary republic in which the president, who performs mainly representative functions, is elected for four years by members of parliament. Barham Saleh was about to run for a second term, but at the last minute, former Foreign and Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari was nominated. However, the day before the vote in Parliament, the Supreme Court temporarily suspended the procedure for electing Zebari until the issue of his old criminal cases was closed. After all, the president must be a crystal clear soul. At the same time, the court ruled that incumbent President Barham Saleh will remain in office until a new one is elected.
There is an opinion that Zebari is not very eager for the presidency, preferring the place of the governor of Kirkuk, an oil-rich territory. If he suddenly really refuses, Saleh will run for a second term.
Whether the refusal to ratify the law banning the normalization of relations with Israel is a matter of political bargaining or Barham Saleh's inner conviction, the near future will show.