Today’s Newspapers Focus On PM Stressing The Importance Of The Youth’s Role In Development, Budget Mechanisms, And Targeting Electricity Towers

The newspapers issued today, Sunday, focused on the Prime Minister, Muhammad Al-Sudani, stressing the importance of the role of youth in development, budget mechanisms, and targeting electricity towers.

Al-Zawraa newspaper, which is published by the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, said that the Prime Minister, Muhammad al-Sudani, directed that an extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers be held to discuss the proposals of the National Conference for Youth Dialogue.

The media office of the Prime Minister stated, in a statement: “Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani directed the cabinet to hold an extraordinary session on International Youth Day, August 12, to discuss the proposals submitted by young people during the closing session of the National Conference for Youth Dialogue, which was held Yesterday, Saturday, in the capital, Baghdad, and the Prime Minister attended.

The statement added, “The conference witnessed the presentation of a number of ideas and proposals, which were prepared by a group of young people representing various governorates, over two consecutive months, aiming to advance the reality of Iraqi youth, and invest their creative energies to serve the country.”

In a speech he delivered during the concluding session of the conference, according to the statement, the Prime Minister praised “the efforts of the participants,” stressing “the government’s interest, since the beginning of its work, in the youth and their care.”

He stressed “the importance of the role of youth in development and overcoming obstacles facing the economy, reform and other vital areas, and the priority given by the government program to this basic segment.”

Al-Sudani said, in a speech he delivered during the National Conference for Youth Dialogue, according to a statement by his media office, “I am very pleased to meet you on this special day that was colored and blossomed with your presence on it, this day that emits the energy of hope and optimism for the youth of Iraq who represent the present and future of our beloved country, and I congratulate you have your efforts in holding this conference, which represents a summary of youth ideas for a persistent team of young people, who worked for two consecutive months on crystallizing proposals in which our sons from fifteen governorates participated.

He added, “Iraq is classified among the young countries in the world, as statistics indicate that more than 60% of the people of Iraq are under the age of 25, which makes it one of the youngest peoples, and this, without a doubt, prompts us to be reassured about our future, which will be between your hands.”

He continued: “Many countries, including the most advanced and civilized countries, suffer today from the problem of aging of their societies. Therefore, your country today is blessed with your energies and brilliant minds, these minds that have proven their worth, whether inside or outside the country. The indicators for scholarships for students in advanced foreign universities, confirms that the Iraqi student always obtains the highest ranks, and is distinguished from the rest of his peers by diligence and excellence.

He pointed out that “despite all the great energies that our youth enjoy, what is regrettable is that the country lacked real, mature programs with clear goals in employing youth energies in the right direction. Rather, more than that, our youth were subjected to great injustice that no one else was exposed to.” At the time of the dictatorial regime, Iraq lost many of its young people in absurd wars, then later after the country was under siege, many of our youth emigrated in search of dignity, freedom and a respectable life, thus losing great energies that the countries of immigration embraced.

He went on to say: “After changing the regime, the State left the hostile pattern that was followed throughout the period of dictatorship, and with openness to the world, the traditional administrative philosophy inherited from previous regimes remained the one controlling the general plans of the state, as this philosophy was based on the idea of government employment, and ignored educating and encouraging work in the private sector, which in all developed countries today represents the cornerstone of managing the economy. Indeed, many oil-producing countries that are similar to us in the rentier economy have felt the danger of relying on the idea of the unilateral economic pattern, and tended towards opening horizons for investing expertise, energies and innovations and youth innovations in the private sector.

He explained that “countries that depend on the unilateral economic pattern will be doomed to failure, and will remain hostage to the fluctuations of the market on which they depend for their unilateral commodity.”

Al-Sudani added, “We have seen how the confusion and decline in oil prices a few years ago made us delay even in paying employees’ salaries, in addition to stopping most service projects. Therefore, it is required of young people to be encouraged and not hesitate to enter to work in the private sector, whether they are investors, employees with their expertise, or workers.”

He stressed that “our current government has set its sights, since the beginning of its work, on advancing the private sector to provide it with all means of success, in addition to approving the Social Security Law, which equates the treatment between workers in the private sector with workers in the government sector, in addition to launching many private initiatives.”

Al-Sabah newspaper focused on the issue of budget mechanisms and quoted the Ministry of Planning as saying that the budget mechanisms will be issued this week and that many lagging projects will see the light at the end of this year and the beginning of the next.

And the Undersecretary of the Minister of Planning for Technical Affairs, Maher Johan, stated that “the budget did not linger or stall, but after the approval of the budget law in its final form and the corrections that were made to it by the House of Representatives and the government, we met during the past two weeks officials of the ministries and governorates and developed quick plans to serve the implementation of projects.”

He explained, “We cannot finance projects in advance, and we must finance according to what has been ratified and approved in the budget law, by finding a legal basis for issuing instructions that will be published in the Iraqi Gazette and issued at the end of this week as a maximum.”

He pointed out that “the government program stresses the implementation of service projects that are quick to complete as soon as possible, so the largest part of the budget will be for the completion of strategic projects related to infrastructure, such as sanitation, health, education, and electricity projects,”

Al-Zaman newspaper focused on the issue of targeting the electricity towers and said that the government had vowed to the leaders of the security sectors and intelligence officers to hold them accountable severely in the event that the energy towers were subjected to a new sabotage targeting, which has escalated in recent days and the last of which was yesterday by targeting Baghdad-Diyala line in an act aimed at inflaming the street by depriving them of service during high temperatures.

The spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Major General Yahia Rasool, said in a statement that “at a time when the government seeks to provide the best services to citizens and reduce the burden on them, coinciding with the rise in temperatures, the defeated gangs are trying to harm the infrastructure and target electric power towers, the latest of which was the bombing of the towers of the power transmission line east of Baghdad – Diyala, 400 kV, in Khan Bani Saad area.

He stressed that “the security services concerned had accurate intelligence information about the existence of an attempt in this regard, and that they had reached important leads about the elements that carried out this cowardly act, which targets the comfort of citizens, as well as the parties that do not rule out that they were behind this targeting.

He pointed out that “Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani directed that the commander of the sector, the intelligence officer and the commander who falls within his responsibility for any act of sabotage affecting the electric power towers, will be held accountable.

He added, “The subversive elements and the parties behind them will be in the grip of the security forces and will not allow the country’s economy and wealth to be compromised,” calling on citizens to “be partners in maintaining security and supporting the security effort, by providing any information about any suspected case affecting security of Iraq, especially with regard to sabotage operations”.

A wide inspection of the borders separating three security commands was launched to protect the energy towers.

A statement said that (based on the directives of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to maintain pressure on the defeated elements and outlaws to enhance security and stability within the sectors of responsibility to protect the electric power towers, and under the supervision of the Joint Operations Command, the process of inspecting the borders separating the operations commands west of Nineveh and Salah al-Din was launched yesterday)

It added that (the West Nineveh Operations Command, through the 15th and 20th Infantry Divisions, the Border Guard Command, the sixth region, and the Popular Mobilization Units, embarked on a duty to inspect and purify Hatra Island and the separating borders with the leaderships of Salah al-Din and the island within the sector of responsibility).

The statement continued, “The security forces will be on the lookout for anyone who tries to tamper with security and stability.”

The Ministry of Electricity had reported that the power transmission line towers in Khan Bani Saad area in Diyala had been subjected to an act of sabotage.

A statement said yesterday that (the line was subjected to an act of sabotage by detonating explosive devices under its towers, which led to its fall in Khan Bani Saad area, near the village of Abu Basal), stressing that (Minister Ziyad Fadel directed the engineering and technical staff to transfer energy to the central region, by mobilizing efforts and detection the circumstances of the accident and the immediate start of rebuilding what was destroyed, and the citizens not being harmed by cutting off the electricity with these sabotage operations, and diverting to alternative lines pending the rapid reconstruction).

Observers believe that the escalation of the tower war, coinciding with the rise in temperatures, aims to inflame the street over service interruptions and drain the economy.

They said that (the war of the towers) is an intentional act of sabotage aimed at inciting citizens and fueling it to interrupt service during hot weather, as well as striking the economy and depleting the country’s resources.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency