However, despite al-Jibouri’s visit, the Iraqi Kurdish MPs in Parliament have refused to return to Baghdad. They are upset about the beating of one of their own, Aram Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, during protests and about the fact that another Iraqi Kurdish politician, Ala Talabani, had been trapped in the government buildings by angry protestors.
One group of MPs, led by a former Prime Minister, Ayad Allawi, insist that an emergency government be created and politicians associated with Muqtada al-Sadr continue to demand a new government made up of independents. Meanwhile those MPs, who formed an alliance against al-Jibouri, insisting that he be dismissed from the position, have said they won’t return to Parliament.
“The protesting MPs plan to form a new bloc in Parliament,” a State of Law MP, Hisham al-Suhail, told NIQASH, adding that the new bloc would be named the Reform Front. “And a few days ago we decided to boycott any sessions headed by al-Jibouri.”
This boycott also makes any and all efforts at reform nigh on impossible. With all of these MPs boycotting Parliament, there is no quorum – that is, enough politicians present in the building to vote on any legally binding decisions. That means Parliament’s work must be suspended until further notice.
In six weeks’ time, the Iraqi Parliament will have completed half of its current term. It will then have two years left in which to try and finalize dozens of draft laws and suspended decisions, some of which are ancient, others of which are urgent and relate to the current economic, security-related and political problems that Iraq is having.
According to information on the Iraqi Parliament’s website, MPs have managed to discuss 275 laws but have only managed to pass 87 of these. Passing a law in Iraq requires three different stages be completed. The law must be read in Parliament twice and then voted upon. Of those remaining, 121 laws have gone through two readings and only require that MPs vote upon them. Another 67 have gone through a first reading but must move into the second and third stages before they can become law.
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