Iraq brings key parliamentary session forward

Iraq has decided to bring forward the second parliamentary session to Sunday, Al-Ghad news agency quoted an Iraqi official as saying.

Acting speaker of the new parliament, Mehdi Al-Hafez, said yesterday: “We have decided to bring forward the second parliamentary session to Sunday, July 13. The decision to advance the session date was made after consultations with the heads of the parliament blocs to serve the public interest and in respect of the constitutional deadline.” AFP reported the statement as saying.

The Iraqi parliament, which failed during its first session to elect a president, decided on Monday to reschedule its second session to August, 12, a date which exceeds the constitutional deadline granted to elect a president for the Republic.

The deadlock over the nomination of the three main government posts, president, prime minister and parliamentary speaker has hindered the work of the new parliament as well as the previous parliament.

Al-Hafez said in his statement: “I invite the parliamentary blocs to agree on the necessary nominations to start the parliamentary session and form the government”, adding “the delay threatens the security of Iraq and its democratic path and increases the suffering of the Iraqi people and violates voters’ rights.”

He called on “all politicians to bear their national responsibilities and overcome their differences to fight terrorism and restore Iraq’s democratic process and speed up the formation of the government to meet the challenges facing Iraq.”

The Iraqi constitution stipulates that the election of a new president should be made within 30 days after the first parliamentary session. Once elected, the president mandates the parliamentary bloc with the majority of seats to form a cabinet within 15 days, after which the prime minister is given 30 days to name the members of his cabinet.

The Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki is believed to have further complicated the political crisis in Iraq when he announced last Friday that he would not give up his candidacy for a third term, despite internal and external criticism.

Al-Maliki, 64, has been harshly criticised over charges of marginalising Sunni sects, monopoly of power and adopting a poor security strategy in light of the deterioration of the security situation in Iraq after armed extremists took control of large areas of Iraq.

Al-Maliki’s political rivals demand his National Alliance bloc, the largest Shia coalition, nominate another candidate for the position of prime minister, but he insists he is eligible to run for a third term.

On Monday, the United States reiterated the need for Iraq to be united in order to counter threat of ISIS.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that “Iraq should unite” to counter the Islamic State’s threat. ISIS announced the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate and pledged allegiance to its leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi who gave his first speech in Mosul, 350 kilometres north of Baghdad, last Friday.

Earnest warned that “further military engagement” by the United States, which has sent 300 military advisors to Iraq “can only be done in parallel with concrete commitments by the Iraqi leaders” and a promise to adopt a more “open government programme”.

Meanwhile, extremist militias have taken control of large areas in the north, east and west of Iraq as government forces continue to wag air strikes and limited operations on the ground to regain control of the cities they lost including Tikrit, 160 kilometres north of Baghdad.

Eight people were killed today, including six policemen, in two separate attacks near Samarra, 110 kilometres north of Baghdad, security and medical sources said.