Iraq: ‘Abadi-Hakim’ Electoral Alliance Collapses

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi speaks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC, on April 16, 2015. (AFP Photo/Jim Watson)
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi speaks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC, on April 16, 2015. (AFP Photo/Jim Watson)
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Iraq: ‘Abadi-Hakim’ Electoral Alliance Collapses

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi speaks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC, on April 16, 2015. (AFP Photo/Jim Watson)
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi speaks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC, on April 16, 2015. (AFP Photo/Jim Watson)

The electoral Nasr al-Iraq alliance between Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the Hikma Movement headed by Ammar al-Hakim collapsed over “technical” issues, two weeks after the withdrawal of Popular Mobilization Forces’ al-Fath (Conquest) from a similar alliance with the PM.

A statement issued by the Hikma Movement said: “The Nasr coalition and the Hikma Movement have decided to run in the parliamentary elections in two lists based on a mutual agreement reached between the two parties over technical issues.”

It added that the two sides might set up an alliance following the elections to form a national government that meets “the ambitions and hopes of the Iraqi people.”

Explaining what technical reasons have led to the quick withdrawals from Abadi’s Nasr coalition, an Iraqi politician told Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity: “All parties that signed an electoral pact with Abadi later discovered that joining such alliance will make them lose in the upcoming elections.”

He said that Abadi was not prepared to join the electoral battle, but was forced to announce a list following immense political and even religious pressures.

The source added that parties allied with Abadi realized that the coming victory would only be in the interest of the prime minister.

“Those parties discovered they will fail in the upcoming elections after Abadi placed several conditions on parties wishing to sign an electoral pact with his coalition,” the source said, adding that the prime minister’s “cake does not satisfy all parties.”

On Tuesday, a source said seven parties have already withdrawn from Abadi’s al-Nasr coalition

State of Law Coalition MP Rehab Abouda told Asharq Al-Awsat: “It remains clear there was a rush to join Abadi’s coalition, which includes many parties and entities that have nothing in common except the hope to receive the highest number of parliamentary seats.”



Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
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Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)

Egypt said Friday that Ethiopia has consistently lacked the political will to reach a binding agreement on its now-complete dam, an issue that involves Nile River water rights and the interests of Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia’s prime minister said Thursday that the country’s power-generating dam, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), on the Nile is now complete and that the government is “preparing for its official inauguration” in September.

Egypt has long opposed the construction of the dam, because it would reduce the country's share of Nile River waters, which it almost entirely relies on for agriculture and to serve its more than 100 million people.

The more than the $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile near the Sudan border began producing power in 2022. It’s expected to eventually produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity — double Ethiopia’s current output.

Ethiopia and Egypt have spent years trying to reach an agreement over the dam, which Ethiopia began building in 2011.

Both countries reached no deal despite negotiations over 13 years, and it remains unclear how much water Ethiopia will release downstream in case of a drought.

Egyptian officials, in a statement, called the completion of the dam “unlawful” and said that it violates international law, reflecting “an Ethiopian approach driven by an ideology that seeks to impose water hegemony” instead of equal partnership.

“Egypt firmly rejects Ethiopia’s continued policy of imposing a fait accompli through unilateral actions concerning the Nile River, which is an international shared watercourse,” Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said in a statement Friday.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his address to lawmakers Thursday, said that his country “remains committed to ensuring that our growth does not come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters.”

“We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water,” he said. “Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.”

However, the Egyptian water ministry said Friday that Ethiopian statements calling for continued negotiations “are merely superficial attempts to improve its image on the international stage.”

“Ethiopia’s positions, marked by evasion and retreat while pursuing unilateralism, are in clear contradiction with its declared willingness to negotiate,” the statement read.

However, Egypt is addressing its water needs by expanding agricultural wastewater treatment and improving irrigation systems, according to the ministry, while also bolstering cooperation with Nile Basin countries through backing development and water-related projects.