Failure to pass food security bill undermines government role in fulfilling people's needs: Iraqi PM

"The draft bill would also support social welfare; protect the poor and needy people in the face of the global economic crisis, provide services, provide job opportunities for the newly graduated students."
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi. (Photo: Iraqi government website)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi. (Photo: Iraqi government website)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Failure to pass the draft bill of Emergency Support for Food Security and Development represents a debilitating factor for the role of the government in fulfilling the needs of the Iraqi people and protecting poor citizens, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi warned on Sunday.

In response to the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court's rejection of the Emergency Support for Food Security and Development draft bill proposed by the government, Kadhimi issued a statement on Twitter explaining the urgent need to pass the bill. 

"The government proposed the Emergency Support for Food Security and Development draft bill to the parliament for urgent reasons, including to face the economic challenges imposed by the global rise of prices and to achieve food security," read the statement. 

Kadhimi also pointed out that "the draft bill included providing urgent support to the electricity sector to solve the electricity shortages during summer."

"The draft bill would also support social welfare; protect the poor and needy people in the face of the global economic crisis, provide services, provide job opportunities for the newly graduated students," read the statement. 

Kadhimi's statement revealed that the draft bill includes obtaining urgent financial support for the agriculture sector and dealing with climate change. 

"The failure to achieve all of these necessities represents a debilitating factor to the government's role in running the daily affairs and fulfilling the needs of the Iraqi people, protecting the poor, providing services and electricity, and handling the rise in the global prices," read the statement.

"The government calls on everyone to take responsibility and address the implications of the challenges facing the country," the statement concluded. 

The draft bill is supported by the Saving the Homeland coalition, made up of the Sadrist Movement, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and Sunni Al-Siyada Alliance. It is opposed by the Shiite Coordination Framework (SCF), which is made up of Iran-backed Shiite political parties.

Earlier, members from the SCF submitted complaints against the draft bill to the Federal Supreme Court. On Sunday, the top court ruled against passing the draft bill. 

The court's decision sparked many angry reactions on social media. 

"Once again, the Federal Court, whose constitutionality is questionable, sets itself the ruler of the political and electoral process, acts as if it were a will, and has the instrument of forgiveness over the executive and legislative authorities over the country," KDP Politburo member and former Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari tweeted on Sunday.

"Therefore, the situation must be corrected, and the tyranny of the politicized judiciary should be prevented, and there is no authority over the judiciary except the law," he added.