Adnan Hussein

By : Adnan Hussein

The new fierce attack – as Iraqi parliament speaker Salim al-Jabbouri put it – against the parliament was launched by patriotic media figures and social media activists. It was particularly launched by the civilians in the past two days. However, those who launched the campaign do not have the right to what they’re saying and writing as they should have been patient a little and waited a while before speaking out.

If they had waited a little before getting too comfortable drowning the media and electronic space with their “fierce” attack in which they used slogans of woe and darkness, made grave statements against the “people’s representatives” and protested to condemn their decisions, they would have heard the wise opinion of State of Law Coalition – the political bloc of the Islamic ad-Dawa Party – Member of Parliament Haidar al-Kaabi.

In a clear and frank address, Kaabi said the MPs’ nominal monthly salary increase of 1 million dinars will not be retroactive. This is equal to the entire wage of an employee who worked in the state for around 20 years after attaining a bachelor degree which many of the MPs themselves do not have and it may one day turn out that some of them entered the legislation institution using forged degrees or degrees they attained thanks to their connections. According to Alsumaria News, Kaabi said the salary increase will be paid starting February.

No shame

After this announcement, we must thank Kaabi and voice appreciation for reassuring us as such. We actually must go ahead and kiss the foreheads of all the MPs, and their speaker in particular, as they deserve this for being humble and for making concessions and accepting that their massive salary increase is not retroactive!

Patriotic media figures and civilian social media activists transformed into fierce predators – as the parliament speaker saw them – that are eating the flesh of the MPs. These poor people, i.e. the MPs, spend their entire time among those who voted for them. They listen to their complaints and work with them to solve their problems. This is why they spend millions of dinars on hosting them and on going from a town to another. Statements about the MPs’ weekly touristic travels to Amman, Beirut, Dubai, Cairo and oversees are “fabrications by the people’s enemies” as Mr. Jabbouri also put it in his statement on Sunday. The parliament speaker must be recalling what American President Donald Trump is repeating these days against media figures who criticize his racial stances and policies.

If what’s reported by Bukhari that the Prophet Mohammed said: “If you feel no shame, then do whatever you wish” is true then the prophet must have specifically known that there will come a time when Iraq will have a parliament whose members have no shame and do whatever they want without any social or national inhibitions.

Adnan Hussein is the executive editor-in-chief of Al-Mada newspaper and head of the National Union of Iraqi journalists. Previously, he has held the position of Managing Editor in Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

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