Iraqi MP slams parliament paralysis, criticizes media restrictions at legislature
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Parliament remains in a state of ongoing paralysis, a lawmaker from the Construction and Development bloc, led by caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, said on Sunday, calling on the Speaker’s office to convene an emergency session to elect a president to proceed with forming the next government.
In a press conference held in the parliament, MP Ahmed Al-Dalfi said that lawmakers travel from their provinces to Baghdad “as if they were guests sitting in the cafeteria, and once they enter the chamber, the session is immediately adjourned,” asking how representatives could serve the people who elected them under such circumstances.
Al-Dalfi argued that the role of the Council of Representatives has been suspended due to an “unreasonable political decision preventing it from electing a president,” noting that in previous parliamentary terms, Kurdish parties would present their candidates, and a president would be elected by lawmakers.
Al-Dalfi rejected the reported attempts by the parliament’s speakership to relocate the media department outside the council building, warning that “removing journalists would restrict media access and hinder coverage of parliamentary activities.”
Earlier, Iraq’s Parliament asked the Federal Supreme Court to interpret a constitutional article governing the election of the president, after lawmakers failed to hold a quorum and missed the deadline set for the vote.
Under Iraq’s power-sharing system, the presidency is held by a Kurd, the prime ministership by a Shiite, and the speakership by a Sunni Arab.
The two previous attempts to elect a president failed due to disputes between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the two main Kurdish parties, which have not agreed on a joint nominee, repeatedly preventing the quorum required for a vote.
