Parliamentary Economy Committee: We refuse to vote on this agreement. We proposed a package of comments before presenting it to Parliament.
Parliamentary Economy Committee: We refuse to vote on this agreement. We proposed a package of comments before presenting it to Parliament.
2025-08-03
The Parliamentary Committee on Economy, Industry and Trade announced the collection of signatures to reconsider the draft law ratifying the Afforestation and Mutual Investment Protection Agreement between the governments of the Republic of Iraq and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Parliament Presidency also requested that the vote on the agreement be postponed and that it be returned to the Council of Ministers for approval before proceeding to present it to Parliament.
“This agreement was not discussed or presented to the committee, and its opinion was never taken into account. Therefore, we have collected signatures to demand that the Presidency hold workshops with legal and economic experts and representatives of government agencies to determine the feasibility of passing this agreement, amending it, or proceeding with ratification,” said Yasser Al-Husseini, the committee’s deputy chairman, in a joint press conference on Saturday.
In turn, MP Saud Al-Saadi said, “We noted that the Parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee did not send a photocopy of the draft law, nor did it send the committee’s special report to the representatives two days before the session, as required by the internal regulations.”
He added, “This agreement includes in Article 9 of Annex A excessive facilities for the expropriation of lands and projects in Iraq for the Saudi side, and it also conflicts with Iraqi Expropriation Law No. 12 of 1981, as amended, and the provisions of other applicable laws.”
He continued, saying, “Article 11 of the agreement included exceptions and permissions for financial transfers to Saudi Arabia under the guise of investment without restrictions or conditions, and Article 13 also permitted the dispute to be referred to the Arab Court of Arbitration or to resort to international arbitration, which might harm the national interest.”
He explained, “We believe it is necessary to stipulate that the dispute over the agreement be referred to Iraqi courts, and that the investment dispute be subject to the Iraqi judiciary, before resorting to Arab arbitration or international arbitration chambers.”
He added, “The current Cabinet did not approve this agreement because the draft law was sent to Parliament during the fourth legislative session in 2019, and no new government decision was issued to include the consistency of the agreement’s provisions with the ministerial program or not.”
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