COR UPDATE: BYLAWS COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001469

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/03/2016
TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: COR UPDATE: BYLAWS COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED;
MASHADANI SOUNDS MULTIPLE CROSS-SECTARIAN NOTES

Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Michael J. Adler for Reasons
1.4 (B) and (D).



1. (C) SUMMARY: At their May 3 session, Council of
Representatives (CoR) members appeared to take in stride
security concerns, building maintenance problems, and
occasional outbursts from the floor to appoint a committee to
draw up a list of internal bylaws. Speaker Mahmud
al-Mashadani gave a temperate speech calling for national
unity and honest discourse within the CoR on important issues
such as sectarianism. In his religious references, he
mentioned elements of both the Shia and Sunni traditions.
The one concrete result of this meeting was the naming of an
11-member Bylaws Committee, charged with presenting a draft
to the CoR Speaker by Wednesday, May 10. END SUMMARY.

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Atmosphere Still Boisterous
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2. (SBU) Speaker Mahmud al-Mashadani opened the CoR May 3
session before a full house. Among the most prominent
present were SCIRI leader Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim, Tawafuq
leader Adnan al-Dulaymi, Hewar leader Saleh Mutlak, Deputy
Prime Minister Rowsch Shaways, Foreign Minister Hoshyar
Zebari, former TNA Speaker Hachem al-Hassani, and former TNA
Deputy Speaker Husayn al-Shahristani. Mashadani began by
reading the agenda for the day's session: form a temporary
committee to draft the internal bylaws and discuss forming a
temporary Constitutional Review committee. Kurdish member
Saadi Barzinji immediately interrupted to demand that the
seating arrangements be changed to allow members to sit by
bloc, rather than in alphabetical order. This would allow
them to confer quickly if necessary during debates rather
than forcing them to shift around, he claimed. Mashadani
reminded Barzinji that he should ask to be recognized before
speaking, and that the issue could be set aside for another
time.


3. (SBU) Mashadani then began his welcome speech, urging the
CoR to use the political process to help Iraq move forward.
Mashadani had three main points:

-- UNITY OF PURPOSE: While the members all came from
different backgrounds and political groups, "they would all
be judged equally in the eyes of Allah and the Iraqi people."
We are all descendants of Ali, Hussein, Omar, and Khalid,
Mashadani said in a striking cross-sectarian manner, and
should treat each other as such.

-- DIALOGUE IS THE SOLUTION: The members should also confront
issues head on, he added. The sectarian problem in Iraq can
and should be resolved through dialogue, especially in the
CoR. He offered three guidelines for success: the CoR must
organize itself before it can lead; members should advise
each other rather than accuse each other; and everyone must
remember that no one is perfect, "only Allah and his twelve
Imams." (NOTE: The reference to the twelve Imams from
Mashadani, an avowed Salafist, is striking.)

-- TOLERANCE OF OTHER VIEWPOINTS: CoR members should be free
to speak their minds without fear of repression. "We need to
respect other opinions," said Mashadani, and disagreement is
"healthy and necessary" for lasting solutions to Iraq's
issues. If necessary, Mashadani reminded CoR members, the
CoR can remove observers and cameras and hold a closed
session for a more honest discussion.


4. (C) Sunni Arab member Mithal al-Alusi then engaged
Mashadani in a heated exchange as to the propriety of his
speech. Al-Alusi accused Mashadani of patronizing
parliamentarians, who were all aware of these points and did
not need to be lectured like children. Mashadani retorted
that some members were new, and that al-Alusi was sending the
wrong message as a former TNA member by breaking protocol to
interrupt the Speaker. Al-Alusi also took issue with
Mashadani's statement that Iraqis all descended from the same
ancestors: "Some here today used to salute Saddam Hussein,"
he exclaimed. Later on in the session, Sadrist member Baha
al-Araji urged the CoR to evict all the "visitors." (Note: an
apparent reference to US Embassy personnel observing the
session. End Note). Mashadani retorted that the observers
were present as guests and that Arab culture preserved their
rights; he did agree, however, to consider the suggestion for
the next session.

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The Bylaws Committee
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5. (SBU) The CoR nominated an 11-member ad hoc committee to
draft the bylaws. The group, which was approved as a package
by the CoR, is:

-- UIC/Shia Coalition: Husayn al-Shahristani, Abbas
al-Bayati, Hassan al-Shammari, Iman al-Assadi, and Hassan
al-Seneid

-- Kurdish Alliance: Muhsin Saadun and Khalid Salam al-Shwany

-- Tawafuq: Nur al-Din al-Hayali and Salim al-Jiburi

-- Iraqiyya: Wa'el Abd al-Latif

-- All small groups and independents: Mohammad Ali al-Jiburi

The committee will be given copies of five sets of bylaws and
the members will be free to pick and choose from any of those
regulations. Mashadani instructed the group to deliver a
draft by May 10.

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Other Business
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6. (SBU) Two other issues were raised during the May 3
session: a suggestion from Kurdish members Saadi Barzinji and
Nawzad Rafat for the CoR to issue a statement condemning
hostilities on the Iraqi-Iranian and Iraqi-Turkish borders,
and a proposal by Tawafuq's Abd al-Karim al-Samarrai to elect
all CoR committee chairmen by consensus. On the borders
issue, Iraqiyya's Wa'el Abd al-Latif and Hamid Majid Musa
urged the CoR to ask for explanations from the Ministers of
Interior and Defense before issuing a statement, and Foreign
Minister Hoshyar Zebari downplayed the seriousness of the
situation on the borders and suggested leaving the issue to
the Foreign Ministry. On selecting committee chairmen,
UIC/Shia Coalition member Abbas al-Bayati stated that due to
the election results, the UIC would naturally lead the
committees. At this, new Kurdish Alliance CoR member Tania
Gilly replied that democracy meant sharing power, not using
it to control the whole legislature.


7. (C) Before moving on to the final set of issues, however,
the CoR asked all nonmembers, including Convention Center
staffers, to leave the room. Kurdish Christian member Fawzi
Hariri told PolOffs afterwards that the closed session
discussions were about members' salaries and complaints over
inconsistent policies at checkpoints.


8. (C) In a sidebar conversation, Iraqiyya's Hussein Ali
al-Sha'alan told POL FSN that his list's "demand" for a
Deputy PM position is essentially a tactic to get more
important ministries. Sha'alan declined, however, to
indicate which ministries the party leadership had in mind.
(NOTE: At a May 2 dinner attended by PolOffs, Ayad Allawi
affirmed particular interest in the Defense, Communications
and Finance Ministries. The consensus of the dinner guests,
mostly former IIG members, was that Falah al-Naqib, Osama
al-Najafi or Hachem al-Hassani should be at Defense.
Iraqiyya member Saad al-Janabi said he hoped to pursue the
Communications Ministry.)

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Comment
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9. (C) After the session, the Convention Center area was shut
down for three hours reportedly because of an anonymous
caller claiming that there were three unexploded car bombs in
a nearby parking lot. Members took this in stride as some
discussed ongoing negotiations over cabinet posts.
Curiously, none of the Sunni Arab members appeared concerned
about the lack of discussion over the Constitution Review
committee, supposedly one of the key issues for them. They
did leave a marker, however, to challenge the Shia Alliance
for leadership of some of the CoR's committees.
KHALILZAD