Iraqi Parliament prepares for a crucial round on the job pending laws

Iraqi Parliament prepares for a crucial round on the job pending laws

6.24.13

The Iraqi Parliament is preparing during the current session of the new legislative season that began the middle of this month for a crucial round of political debate on the adoption of a series of important laws and, by the end of the current session of Parliament, which ends in March next year.

And at a time of debate on the compatibility to include a set of laws through what is known as «the one» basket for a vote, a Bill to criminalize and amendments to accountability and justice and Amnesty, there is a tendency to discuss other laws including the law of provincial administrative boundary. In this context, the student first Deputy Speaker of Parliament Qusay Al-Suhail and legal committees to discuss a draft law to the provincial administrative boundary with the Presidency of Parliament.

Al-Suhail said in a statement Tuesday that a meeting of Heads of State and representatives of parliamentary blocs, to discuss a number of laws, stating that “the meeting discussed the draft law on border demarcation and administrative infrastructure Bill. According to the statement, Talib Al-Suhail Committee of the regions and governorates that are not organized in a region and the legal Committee held a joint meeting with the Presidium of the House of representatives to discuss the draft law on administrative districts demarcation, noting that Presidents also called for more efforts to reach consensus on a number of important laws before vote.

Meanwhile, the President of the Kurdistan Alliance bloc in the Iraqi Parliament Dr. Fouad Massoum, told «Middle East», that «there is a trend to the adoption of important laws and must be approved before the end of the current parliamentary session, such as the law of the Federation Council of the Federal Court Act and amended the law on elections and political parties law, in addition to the ban on the Baath party and the now defunct entities».

And what if the atmosphere was ripe for adoption of these laws, “said masum atmosphere now generally positive, there are touts for Massoud Barzani, President of Kurdistan to Baghdad, Barzani’s meetings will be comprehensive with all political forces and parties, adding that” the question of the inclusion of these laws within one basket or not depends on political consensus.

And Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was introduced in October 2011 to Parliament a Bill to redraw administrative borders of provinces covered by article 140 of the Constitution to what it was before the change. The proposal provides for Talabani to cancel all former Ordinances concerning the administrative boundaries of cities and back to the past, prior to 1968, the year when the Baath party came to power in Iraq.

If application of the law, many of the provinces covered by the law will lose large swaths of its territory in particular, Salahuddin province which did not exist before 1968 and formed by the regime of Saddam Hussein in early 1970s after joining some counties and districts of the governorates of Baghdad and Kirkuk.

And whether the possible adoption of a series of important laws in the coming months, after that remained a bone of contention for years, said the appearance of al-Janabi, a member of Parliament from the Iraqi list, that “Unfortunately foreign agendas in everything in Iraq, to the extent that it is now hoped to reach an agreement without this involving agendas in a way». Al-Janabi said that “if things were left but the Iraqis to agree on everything, because there are no real differences as there are agendas have taken root in many joints function in the political process.

Either a sadrist member of Parliament, Mohammad Reza Al-Khafaji, said that “some parties, especially the ruling party (in reference to the Dawa party of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki), recovering only in crises and instability, as these things can create political stability can open all the files, it is not possible for these parties to make the situation stabilizes in the direction of the legislation and to provide the necessary services for the citizens that still waits 10 years ago.

sotaliraq.com