The Iraqi political arena has experienced in the last week many developments and new political positions. This left some evidence that confirms that some politicians have come to a state of despair when it comes to the reform of the political status quo. The feeling is that some politicians are carless about the accumulation of current crisis, which risks the national project and the political process through the hardening of attitudes. These people do not listen to the opinion of the others, are delaying the implementation of the agreement of the political parties, particularly the Erbil agreement. There are other crises and the problems that are still plaguing the political scene, security, and service situations. Without a national consensus and the creation of solutions capable of resolving these problems these crises have formed into time bombs that could explode at any moment.The most important developments in the Iraqi political arena are as follows:

1-Meetings of the Iraqi National Coalition:

INA held last Wednesday, July 27, 2011, an important meeting which was attended by  all affiliated political blocs with the exception of National Movement Reform. This was due to the travel schedule of of Dr. Ibrahim Aljaafari taking him outside of Iraq. The meeting was chaired by an MP from ISCI’s parliamentary bloc, Mr. Baqir Jabr Alzubaidi.

The meeting resulted in the following topics:

A- The formation of a committee to activate the work of the National Coalition, which constitutes State of Law, the two main parties in the formation of the National Alliance, which formed the current government, and thus, there is a necessity to review the current situation and the serious crisis plaguing the political scene. This will lay out the required role of the National Coalition in order to bring about the convergence of views between the parties to serve the public interest. This is an opportunity to expose those who are trying to destroy the political process and the Iraqi national project.

B- The emphasis on the work on the rules of procedure of the National Coalition and the commitment to these rules, and the amendment of some of its articles according to the latest developments on the political arena. This is in order to clarify positions with a high level of transparency and not to waste the achievements of the national project.

C-  The National Coalition agreed upon rejecting to withdraw confidence from the Independent Electoral Commission and holding those involved in the administrative and financial corruption accountable. This is taking into account the experience of the Board of Commissioners in the past electoral experiences and provides mechanisms for selecting talented, independent, and nationalists who believers in the political process .

D-  The Iraqi National Coalition considers the government program submitted by the Government to the Parliament weak and thinks that it does not voice the aspirations of the Iraqi people and other political blocs. If it stays unchanged then it will cause a new crisis that may lead to the withdrawal of confidence from the government. Therefore, the National Coalition working as major part in the National Alliance, which formed the government to form a committee to demonstrate the weaknesses in the program and re-formulated in a scientific and legal way. To consult with the National Coalition in the preparation of reforms that will performed later and that should not take more than ten days, and call for an emergency meeting of the National Alliance to address the weaknesses because it would cause a danger to the current government.

2- Reducing Ministries:

ISCI was the first to call for reducing the number of ministries (which at the moment number 43) in line with the Iraqi people's will and the desire of the religious authority. This option is important and no one can deny it because it stems from the core demands of the Iraqi people. At the last meeting of the National Alliance, some had suggested that the process of Reduction be conducted in three stages:

1- Cancel the ministries that were not formed by a law.

2- Merge similar ministries in the tasks and work.

3- Cancel the ministries of the State.

There was talk about the exceptions, such as the Ministry of National Security and Parliamentary Affairs and Women's Affairs and that some ministries may be given to the Vice Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

We believe that the exception must not turn into a rule otherwise it will be a norm rather than an exception. Therefore, we are canceling all of these ministries because they strain the state budget at the expense of the citizen. Unfortunately, this flaccid ministry made ​​the country go through a crisis and this is what everybody agrees on as all the authorities to be either disabled or managed by one party so these crises are escalating, and this makes sure that the ISCI bloc in the Council of Representatives moves actively in the next phase to correct these mistakes.

3 - Classism and poverty:

ISCI has diagnosed since the formation of the first Iraqi government after the fall of the dictatorship that there is a great disparity in pay scales between the three presidencies and the salaries of employees. Workers have created a situation of classism. This great disparity impacts negatively the coexistence between these classes, which caused despair and frustration among social groups. The Iraqi Planning Ministry has announced recently that a quarter of Iraq's population is below the poverty line, and the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations human rights in Iraq, said that 28% of Iraqi citizens are unemployed and lack of job opportunities.

We in ISCI sees that if these percentages are true, it means that we past a critical stage, and reached a stage of danger, and this triggers a red light in a country that has this massive wealth and great potential and financial revenues which are unprecedented in the history of Iraq . There is a need to address this issue and put forward development plans to put an end to such problems and dangerous phenomena. It is the duty of the Council of Representatives as the legitimate representative of the Iraqi people in order to enact a law on reducing the salaries of the three presidencies and the salaries of special grades for the elimination of classism and abhorrent to this terrible disparity in the pay scale.