Iraq: Political Hegemony Paralyzes Legislation and Amendment of Parliamentary Laws
Iraq: Political Hegemony Paralyzes Legislation and Amendment of Parliamentary Laws
12-19-2022
Iraqi deputies criticized the failure to pass important laws in the Iraqi parliament , or to make important amendments to them, in line with the public interest, stressing the continuation of political dominance over those laws.
According to Representative Basem Ngemish, “the political decision still prevails over the legislation of laws in Parliament, and that there is lax application of the laws that have been approved, especially with regard to penal laws,” stressing in a statement to the official Al-Sabah newspaper, today, Saturday, that “it is necessary to amend Some laws, such as integrity and financial oversight, because sometimes these laws may not be deterrent.”
Naghmish stressed “the need to amend these laws and give them previous and subsequent powers, and give them judicial powers,” stressing that “the Iraqi Penal Code is one of the best laws in the region, but there is a circumvention of it and its non-application.”
The deputy called for “making amendments to the laws, activating and applying the strong wording of them,” criticizing “the continued dominance of the political blocs over the laws, as they are not passed in the House of Representatives except with political will.”
Representative Mahdia Al-Lami confirmed that “since Parliament resumed its work, there are about 100 suspended laws, and they need either amendment, first reading, or voting on them,” indicating in a televised statement that there are “some laws that were read first reading, and were not discussed or voted on And I went back to the government.”
Al-Lami stressed, “The importance of approving important laws and amending what needs to be amended, because of its importance in serving the people.”
The obstruction of laws in terms of approval or amendment is due to the absence of political consensus regarding many of them, such as budget laws, amending employee salaries, the oil and gas law, compulsory recruitment, information crimes, and others.
Difficulty getting rid of political domination
For his part, a member of the Parliamentary Legal Committee confirmed that “it is not possible to get rid of political dominance over laws, their legislation and their amendments,” indicating to “The New Arab” and on condition of anonymity that “the political influence that depends on the number of parliamentary seats for the bloc represents its weight size and impact of laws.
He stressed that “disagreements exist within parliamentary committees regarding amending laws, and that each committee operates according to the law concerned with it, and therefore there will be understandings between the blocs that push to pass or amend the law in exchange for another law,” stressing that “it is not possible to get rid of that partisan hegemony and influence on laws at all.
This is taking place in parallel with a government movement to improve the service aspect of the country. The Council of Ministers had recently authorized Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’a al-Sudani to withdraw draft laws from Parliament. He in turn directed the withdrawal of 9 laws, including dealing with housing abuses, the Reconstruction Council, the amendment of the Companies Law, the amendment First Amendment to the Iraqi National Oil Company Law, Second Amendment to the Public Roads Law, Federal Civil Service.
The legislative role of Parliament is measured by the number of important and controversial laws that it can pass in its session, through which it can overcome differences between political forces, and for the government to rule on these laws and withdraw them or empty them of their content, which will have a negative impact on legislative work.
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