Iraq's PM calls for national dialogue
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi is calling for a comprehensive national dialogue among all of the country’s forces ahead of the election, seizing the opportunity after Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said on March 16 that the initiative for a national dialogue that he proposed to the political parties and blocs “is the only way to build a state and well-establish the state concepts to empower its success.” Thus, he emphasized the importance of his March 8 proposal, through which he called on political forces, protesting youths and oppositionists to the government to gather around the dialogue table.
"This is the first time that an Iraqi prime minister has called for a comprehensive national dialogue without any ideological agenda," Hosham Dawood, an adviser to Kadhimi, told Al-Monitor, expecting that the majority of Iraqi political forces, even the militias, would attend the dialogue.
The National Wisdom Movement chairman voiced a day later his support for the initiative and urged all political forces as well as social and academic figures to join the dialogue to address failures.
On behalf of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani welcomed the initiative for “a dialogue involving the political parties in order to resolve all problems and conflicts.”
