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Chapter 547 Successfully Landed! (Second Update!)

Of the 329 members of parliament, Speaker Gubaidra was not among them. He reverently stretched out his hands, while the members of parliament responsible for checking the voting results slowly took the ballots out of the ballot box and placed them one by one in front of him.

He slowly recounted the hundreds of votes, and after counting them, he had someone else count them again.

After the third round, he wrote the cleared-out voting results on a piece of white paper next to him.

Then he held the white paper high:
"A total of 329 votes were cast, with 174 against, 15 abstentions, and 140 in favor!"

"I hereby announce that the Sadr Movement's application to join parliament and become an independent party has failed. You may all return to your quarters..."

Before Gubaidra could finish speaking, the door to the council chamber was pushed open.

Several people appeared at the gate, backlit, smiling at Gubaidra.

Upon seeing these people clearly, Gubaidra's face darkened. Just as he was about to speak, the other party spoke first:
“Speaker Gubaidra, the power to decide which party should be a member of parliament should belong to the ordinary people, not to parliament alone.”

"It's useless for a political party to say that it's good. It's good for the people to say that it's good, and for others to say that it's good. That's what makes a good political party."

"Therefore, I have invited several ordinary citizens to attend this hearing today, and they will also be part of the vote."

"What do you think, Speaker Gubaidra?"

The question made Gubaidra's face grow increasingly grim, yet he couldn't bring himself to object.

Because the other party was Prime Minister Samaira.

To balance the power of various factions, the four most powerful official positions in Iraq, from top to bottom, are: Prime Minister, President, Speaker of Parliament, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

However, in reality, even if the power of the other three combined were mixed, they still couldn't defeat the prime minister.

Of these positions, the prime ministership belongs to the Shia, the presidentship to the Kurds, the speakership to the Sunnis, and the chief justice, in order to maintain judicial independence, does not usually disclose his or her religious affiliation.

However, in most cases, the position of Chief Justice is held by a Shiite.

Therefore, the overall political environment in Iraq is biased towards Shiites.

Taking a deep breath, Gubaidra said to Samera:
“Mr. Prime Minister, the Sadr Movement’s governing philosophy is in conflict with ours, so I think we should reject their application. We are not worthy of being a party.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Samera walked into the council hall and stood in front of Gubaidra. Only then did Gubaidra notice that Samera was holding something.

Those are some photos!
Immediately afterwards, Samara took these photos and showed them to Gubaidra:

“Mr. Speaker, these photos are of people moving from Baghdad to other provinces and from Iraq to other countries after the Japan Street incident.”

"A large portion of these people are wealthy."

"They took the money and left Iraq with nothing but an empty shell."

"What's the use of an empty shell? It's completely useless!"

Accompanied by Samara's roar, the photos fell like snowflakes in front of Gubaidra.

Gubaidra had sharp eyes; among the photos falling like snowflakes, he saw several of himself, smiling happily, while the others in the photos were very respectful.

Besides, there are other things that shouldn't exist between others and oneself—bribery.

Upon discovering the photos, Gubaidra quickly bent down and picked up all the scattered pictures. He placed the photos of the immigrants on his left, while the photos of him were casually stuffed into his pocket.

After hiding the evidence, he slowly approached Samara, who was a head taller than him. If he stood a little further away, he could look Samara in the eye, but since his bribery had been exposed, he could only talk to her up close.

As he got closer, Gubaidra found himself only able to look up at the guy.

Left with no other choice, he took a half step back, looked Samara straight in the eye, and demanded fiercely, his face flushed, "What exactly do you want to do?"

"What are you doing?" Samara asked softly, turning around to make way for the people behind her.

He then cheerfully addressed Gubaidra, saying, "As the Prime Minister of Iraq, of course I am thinking of the Iraqi people."

"Consider allowing a new political party to join parliament and participate in the governance of Iraq, to ​​contribute to the Iraqi people and seek their welfare!"

His words were so impeccable that even if Gubaidra wanted to refute them, he couldn't.

I'm thinking of the Iraqi people, what about you?
The same to you?
That's such a coincidence!
We are like-minded comrades!
Since we're comrades, you shouldn't be causing me trouble at this time; you should agree with my thoughts.

After staring at Samera for a while, Gubaidlang shifted his gaze to the people behind Samera.

Upon seeing this, he became even more constipated.

Because the dozens of people behind Samair were all well-known Shia Muslims, and some of them even had more influence than Samair, the speaker.

With these people, plus the reputation left by Sadr's deceased father, the old Sadr...

Thinking of this, he immediately turned his head and looked at the Shia members in the council hall.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that these people's gazes began to dart away.

It seems they're planning to overturn the previous vote!
This absolutely cannot be overthrown!

Taking a deep breath, Gubaidra straightened up and said to Samara with neither servility nor arrogance, "Prime Minister Samara, the vote on whether to approve Sadr's membership in parliament has ended, and the results are in. You have no right to make a decision now!"

“Is that so?” Samair pushed Gubaidra aside and walked to the front, his gaze not lingering on Sadr, but falling on the councilors behind him: “The voting is over, so, was it notarized?”

After saying this, he turned his head slightly, looked at Gubaidra with a smile, and the corners of his mouth curled up as if he were mocking Gubaidra.

Upon hearing this question, Gubaidra looked surprised, then abruptly raised his head.

His gaze met Samera's, who smiled slightly at him and then turned to look at the councilors:
"Since there was no notarization, why say the whole process is over?"

No one responded.

After waiting for several minutes with no response, Samara turned to the dozens of people still blocking the doorway and said:

"Alright, let our people hear Sadr's thoughts!"

As they spoke, the group entered the council hall one after another, but instead of finding a seat, they stood at the door.

These people were either well-known businessmen in Iraq, or respected clerics, and some were even elders of the members of parliament present.

These people just stared at the members of parliament present, and no one said a word.

They just silently apply enough pressure.

In the very center of the council chamber, Sadr remained seated on the platform, waiting several minutes until the room quieted down before he began to present his arguments:

"My main principles remain the same as before: opposition to foreign interference and nationalism!"

"We are Iraq, not a colony of America, not a vassal of Iran, nor a vassal of any other Arab country!"

"Even if we advocate Pan-Arabism, we should be a member of a federal system, and other countries should be equal to us and should not and cannot dictate to us!"

"We demand our own independence and sovereignty!"

"In recent years, I have conducted in-depth research based on this, and I have found that without national cohesion and money, all the talk is just empty words!" "And before the country has cohesion and money, we are not safe!"

"Therefore, in addition to opposing foreign interference and nationalism, I have added securityism!"

"We need to mobilize the grassroots people and make them managers of this country!"

"Let them be deeply involved in management!"

"Ensure security from the basics, and then, based on security, improve social welfare!"

That's all I wanted to say!

"If you all think I'm not worthy, then so be it. Anyway, I'll come back next year!"

After he finished explaining his ideas, everyone, including Gubaidela, looked over in astonishment.

Prior to this, Sadr's political ideology included, but was not limited to, opposition to foreign interference and nationalism, anti-corruption, and the pursuit of social justice.

His favorite topics to mention are, first, corruption; then, opposition to foreign interference and nationalism; and finally, social justice.

This time, he surprisingly didn't mention anti-corruption.

Is this the sun coming out in the west?

Surprised, the members of parliament present tacitly refrained from offering any warnings.

It's good that they don't fight corruption!

It's good that we don't fight corruption!
At this moment, Gubaidra, who was determined to get Sadr out of the country, raised his question once again: "Mr. Sadr, in your answer a few tens of minutes ago, you mentioned that the people should relinquish some of their power."

"Do you know that all rights are given by God and no one can take them back?"

"Speaking of which, you haven't told us yet which rights you plan to take back from the Iraqi people?"

Bitch!

Sadr mentally evaluated Gubaidra and continued calmly:
“Mr. Speaker, please note that I have never used the word ‘retract’ from beginning to end!”

"My exact words were that the people need to concede a little bit of their power."

"Since you want to know what kind of power it is, then I'll lay it all out here and explain it clearly!"

"This small power is what many people tout as a person's highest right to privacy."

"To ensure safety in public places, we need to check packages and people entering public spaces."

"Similarly, we also need to install surveillance cameras in public places so that everything can be recorded and we can find clues to follow!"

"These are the powers that I need the people to relinquish!"

Sadr spoke with conviction, but left Gubaidra, who was preparing to continue the pursuit, completely bewildered.

He initially thought Sadar was going to ask the people to give up some random thing, but it turned out to be just a right to privacy.

Privacy rights!
He wanted to laugh!
Do Iraqis have the right to privacy?
Yes, we have them!

However, this only exists in the rhetoric of NGOs and among a few loud people who have access to a platform to speak out.

It's as ridiculous for an Islamic country to talk about the right to privacy as it is for a brothel to talk about virginity.

This……

He couldn't spit it out.

Sadr suddenly became so serious, he... he was not used to it.

Not only Gubaidra, but also the members of parliament present, Samera who came to the rescue, and the dozens of people Samera brought with him, were all completely dumbfounded.

The fact that Sadr doesn't mention anti-corruption can be interpreted as Sadr finally maturing.

Now they're asking the public to relinquish their so-called right to privacy...

Ok……

Sadr's actions likely stem from his own plans for the future.

The happiest person was none other than Samira, who had finally realized what was happening.

If Sadr were to bring up taxes or other miscellaneous powers, he would likely have a difficult time dealing with it. But if it were merely a so-called right to privacy, it would be much easier to handle.

He turned around, looked at the dozens of people he had called over to help out, and calmly asked:
"Everyone, as ordinary people, when you enter public places such as airports, train stations, or streets, are you afraid of being monitored by cameras?"

"In these public places, after showing their identification, can professional security personnel ask to inspect your backpack?"

The group of people who came over were there to help out, so they naturally understood Samera's additional information.

They all nodded in agreement, responding in a cacophony of voices.

“In public places, I’m sure I’m not the only one being photographed, so it doesn’t matter. If I were so concerned about privacy, I don’t think I should go out!”

"Terrorists have been increasing in recent years. They hide in the shadows, and all we can do is take precautions. Checking luggage at train stations and airports is a must!"

"When installing surveillance cameras in public places, I think it's essential to control the terminal data properly. If you control that well, there won't be any problems!"

"Safety is the most important thing!"

"To be honest, I don't even dare to go near the 32nd block now. I've heard from other people that the wronged souls of Japanese people are there every night, crying out. Unfortunately, they are not on the same path as us, and God will not accept their souls!"

After listening to the cacophony of voices from these people, the members of parliament present understood their thoughts.

At this moment, a member loyal to Samair stood up and shouted:
“Mr. Sadr didn’t explain clearly just now, so I think the vote should be restarted!”

Once someone starts something, others will chime in.

In just over 10 minutes, the situation turned completely one-sided, tilting in the direction that Gubaidela did not want to see.

Left with no other choice, it gritted its teeth and restarted the voting process.

This time the voting process was faster.

After casting his vote, he still didn't want to open the ballot box.

Seeing his reluctant expression, Samara personally took out the voting results and began to read them aloud in front of all the members of parliament:
"A total of 329 votes!"

"193 votes in favor, two abstentions, and 134 votes against!"

"Now, I officially declare that the Sadr Movement has officially become a political party in the Iraqi parliament!"

"Let us congratulate Mr. Sadr!"

(End of this chapter)