Iraqi Parliament Begins New Term With a Focus on Electing New Speaker

Iraq 04:03 PM - 2024-07-16

Iraqi Parliament Hall

The Iraqi parliament has formally announced the start of the new parliamentary term by scheduling a session of the parliament for Saturday, July 20, 2024.

The Media Department of the Iraqi parliament has issued a statement, which PUKMEDIA has received a copy of, outlining the agenda for Session No. 1  of the new legislative term of the parliament on Saturday. The agenda includes the first reading of the draft law on the first amendment to the Martyrs Foundation Law, as well as the first reading of the Law of Air Services Agreement between Iraq and Azerbaijan.

Karwan Yarwais, the Rapporteur of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) bloc in Iraq's parliament, told PUKMEDIA that the new legislative term will begin with the first session of parliament on Saturday, as scheduled.

He also stated, "One of our top priorities is to elect a new Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament. The Sunni parties have been given until July 20, 2024, to select a candidate and reach an agreement on who will serve as Speaker of the Parliament.”

The upcoming session on Saturday will include a second reading of the draft law governing the National Intelligence Service, as well as a proposal for the first amendment to the Passport Law.

Yarwais further explained: "There are several crucial draft laws that require our attention in the upcoming legislative term, and these include the Halabja Governorate Law, which only requires voting for its completion, as well as the draft law to revoke the decisions made by the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council and the draft law concerning the Ministry of Defence."

The start of the Iraqi parliament's legislative break, which was originally scheduled for May 9, 2024, has been delayed by a month. This delay was required to facilitate the selection of a new speaker of the parliament and the approval of the budget schedules. However, the parliament failed to elect a new speaker during this period due to the lack of consensus among the Sunni parties. As a result, the First Deputy continued to oversee the position.

 

 

PUKMEDIA