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The Prime Minister to Al-Sabah: The political process suffers from a “crisis of confidence” Saturday 30 April 2022 341 Interview: Editor-in-chief Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi believes that the real blockage in the current crisis in the country results from the failure to develop the political process that was formed on the basis of balances and visions that are not necessarily valid for all time. Al-Kazemi considered the current crisis, in essence, a "crisis of confidence", because the political forces can get out of the current political impasse and make sacrifices or concessions here or there, if there was a common trust that frames the Iraqi political situation. This came in a lengthy dialogue that touched upon several axes conducted by "Al-Sabah" with Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi. This dialogue is of great importance due to the political situation surrounding Iraq today, after the recent parliamentary elections led to results that were not decisive to create a larger bloc, so the formation of the government was greatly delayed, which cast a shadow on the political movement in general, and called for fears that the resulting political blockage would have repercussions Security and economic distress for citizens' lives. Al-Kazemi said: The economic structure in Iraq needs a comprehensive reform in order to face the future and prepare for all crises and obstacles, if they are repeated. He defended the white paper, saying: During two years of the government's work, we succeeded in achieving the highest rate of economic growth at the level of the Arab countries, according to the reports of the International Monetary Fund, which expected that the economic growth rate in Iraq would reach 9.5% during 2022 and 2023. The Prime Minister continued: This growth was based on reformist beginnings, and we are not saying that they were without errors, but rather it established a scientific reform approach that laid down the white paper for its building blocks. Regarding the damages of changing the exchange rate, the Prime Minister explained, in the 2021 budget, and in conjunction with the change in the dollar exchange rate, we raised the social welfare allocations in the general budget law to 3 trillion dinars, and this figure was allocated to the groups that we expected to be most affected based on specialized studies, We were not outbidding anyone, but we were dealing with the negative effects of the exchange rate appreciation and improving the living conditions of low-income people. But the brothers in the previous parliament refused to listen to our arguments in this regard and reduced the amount to less than 700 billion dinars only. At the same time, they reduced the investment budget, which aimed to revive the labor market, motivate projects, turn the wheel of the local economy, and activate the role of the private sector. In response to Al-Sabah's question regarding the security file, Al-Kazemi said: Whoever reviews the conditions in 2020 with credibility and away from the atmosphere of opportunism and review, must admit that there has been a significant development in the security file at all levels, starting with resetting the outcomes of the social crisis that resulted from the popular demonstrations. Between 2019 and 2020, and then restoring the trust that was broken between the people and security institutions, by drying up the sources of terrorism and breaking its thorns, besieging the outlaws and working to apply the law to everyone without exception. He added, "We do not have the magic wand to change reality in one fell swoop, but we have laid the foundations of normal life, and these foundations were achieved after many steps and several legal accounting." Today, there are officers, associates, and employees who are sentenced to death or life imprisonment after the law has been applied to them, and there are criminals who are being prosecuted for transgressing the law, as is the case with death squads in Basra province, the killers of Hisham al-Hashemi, organized crime gangs and many others, not to mention the lurking terrorism. Regarding the Food Security Law, the Prime Minister said: The preparation of this law and its submission to the House of Representatives was due to the global economic crisis caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine and the rise in oil prices, and consequently the high prices of goods and services globally and the inability to legislate the budget at the present time. Food security"
