Baghdad: Legal expert and consultant, Salem Hawas, has raised concerns over recent calls by some political blocs to elect candidates based on their respective components, diverging from the long-standing ‘single package’ tradition in parliamentary elections. This shift challenges the approach used in all previous electoral cycles where the presidencies were settled within a comprehensive agreement.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, Hawas explained that this new approach prompts questions about whether there is an ongoing re-engineering of the political process or if it is merely a temporary response to the current political stalemate. He suggested that this move should not be immediately interpreted as a genuine political concession, but rather as a tactical maneuver designed to redirect internal pressures within each political bloc towards other factions, potentially stalling the crisis or breaking down opposing negotiation fronts.

Hawas further noted that the separation of political entitlements could either be a strategy to shift the challenge of agreeing on a Shiite prime minister to other parties, achieve a partial settlement, or demonstrate political flexibility at a critical time without committing to final decisions regarding the three branches of government.

He pointed out that this electoral cycle marks a significant transition from the ‘single package’ logic to a ‘separate packages’ approach, indicating a general political fatigue and a decreased capacity to enforce comprehensive settlements. Hawas concluded that this change does not necessarily reflect political maturity but rather an imbalance of power and an attempt by each party to minimize losses instead of securing full gains. He emphasized that dismantling political entitlements will not necessarily resolve the crisis unless there is a clear plan for forming the executive authority.