By John Lee. The newly-elected Iraqi parliament has re-elected Mohamed al-Halbousi (pictured) as Speaker for a second term. Mr Halbousi received 200 votes, with his opponent, Mahmood al-Mashhadani, getting just 14. According to Al Jazeera, Parliament now has 30 days to elect the country's new President, who will then ask the largest bloc in parliament […]
By Akeel Abbas for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraqi Sunni parties compete for parliament speaker Two large Sunni coalitions, the Taqaddom alliance led by Muhammad al-Halbusi and the Azm [Azem] alliance led by Khamis al-Khanjar, are competing […]
By John Lee. Iraq's parliament failed to achieve a quorum on Thursday, resulting in the postponement of a confidence in the government of Prime Minister-designate Mohammad Allawi. Parliament's Speaker, Mohammed Halbousi, postponed the session until Saturday. (Sources: AFP, Anadolu Agency)
By Omar Sattar for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraqi parliament takes nonbinding decision to end US troop presence At an extraordinary session in the absence of all Kurdish and most Sunni parliament members, the Iraqi parliament passed […]
By John Lee. Iraq is reportedly considering banning several popular video games over fears that they encourage violence and crime. MP Sami'a Ghulab, who chairs the Parliamentary Committee on Culture, Information, Tourism, and Archaeology, is quoted as saying that games such as Fortnite, Apex Legends and PlayerUnkown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) are "affecting the social, psychological and educational […]
By John Lee. On Thursday parliament approved Iraq’s 2019 budget. According to AFP, at $111.8 billion it is one of Iraq’s largest ever spending bills, and represents a nearly 45 percent increase from last year. It assumes exports of 3.9 million barrels of oil per day in 2019, including 250,000 bpd from Iraqi Kurdistan, at […]
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) In cooperation with the Iraqi Council of Representatives (CoR) organized three-days induction sessions on the principles of Parliamentary work. The sessions came as part of the continues support to the institutional reform and enhanced governance in Iraq. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 35 newly elected Parliamentarians […]
From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The Iraqi parliament has passed a bill to officially recognise Shia armed groups collectively known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces. The PMF are currently playing a vital role in the battle for the […]
By Simon Kent. In a potentially huge political development, Iraq's Council of Representatives (Parliament) have passed draft amnesty law that would see as many as 5000 Shia Sadrist protesters released from prison and potentially thousands more Sunnis who have been detained over the years, allegedly on spurious information, in many cases. For example, at the […]
By Simon Kent. Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi has received a huge boost to his embattled reform campaign as parliament approved his initial choice for new Minister of Oil, Jabar Ali al Luaibi. Luaibi was formerly the head of the South Oil Company, and his appointment comes after difficult negotiations with the IMF, that included […]
By John Lee. The Speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Salim Al-Jabbouri [Saleem al-Jabouri] has reportedly been cleared of corruption allegations on Tuesday due to insufficient evidence. Last week, Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi claimed that al-Jabouri and at least five lawmakers and business people had tried to persuade him to secure specific contracts and to reinstate […]
By John Lee. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (pictured) has issued a temporary travel ban for some sitting lawmakers and politicians, according to Associated Press. The move follows allegations of corruption that emerged during the questioning in parliament of the country’s defense minister, Khaled al-Obeidi, who claimed that speaker Salim al-Jabouri and at least five […]
