Iraq to revive parliament work with increased sessions

Shafaq News– Baghdad

Iraq’s parliament is weighing a plan to hold up to eight sessions a month as part of an effort to restore legislative and oversight activity after years of irregular sittings.

The proposal was discussed at a meeting chaired by Speaker Haibet Al-Halbousi, alongside First and Second Deputy Speakers Adnan Fayhan and Farhad Amin Al-Atroshi, according to a statement from the speaker’s office.

Parliament’s internal regulations require lawmakers to convene eight sessions per month, or 32 sessions during each four-month legislative term. In practice, that target has often gone unmet, with sittings disrupted by political disputes, quorum failures, and prolonged delays in forming committees.

During the fifth parliamentary term from 2022 to 2025, parliament held only about half of the sessions, 132 of 256, mandated by its own rules, according to Shafaq News data, contributing to stalled legislation and weak oversight of the executive.

The renewed push comes after the first session of the newly elected sixth parliament on December 29, 2025, which formally launched the new legislative cycle and set procedural deadlines designated to elect a new President Prime Minister.

Read more: No end in sight: Iraq's Parliament drowns in delays and disagreements