COUNCIL MEMBERS YELL AND SCREAM, THEN RETURN TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001558 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/10/2016 TAGS: PGOV PNAT KDEM IZ SUBJECT: COUNCIL MEMBERS YELL AND SCREAM, THEN RETURN TO BUSINESS Classified By: Political Counselor Robert S. Ford for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. At the May 10 session of the Council of Representatives, Speaker Mahmoud Mashhadani and SADR CoR member Gufran Abbod Husayn al-Saadi entered into a long and heated argument about a scuffle between their bodyguards. This resulted in Mashhadani storming out of the session. Al-Saadi rushed to the press while Mashhadani took 30 minutes to cool down. After he reconvened the session, members voted to extend IECI for three months and heard the first reading of the amendments to the CoR by-laws. The little fracas reminds that the suspicion and anger that many parliament members feel towards each others lies just below the surface, and it will take more than a few parliament sessions to get beyond that. End Summary. -------------- Rumble in the House -------------- ¶2. (C) In the May 8 incident, Speaker Mashhadani's bodyguard threatened and struck Sadr CoR member Gufran al-Saadi's bodyguard with his pistol butt after the bodyguard was too slow in turning off his cell phone. Tawaffuq CoR member Azhar al-Samarai, who was present at the incident, told PolOff on May 10 that the very loud cell phone ring tone was a Sadrist song that was disrupting a live TV interview being conducted nearby by Speaker Mashhadani. Director General of the CoR Research Directorate Saifaldin Abdul-Rahman said that the Speaker's bodyguard was also rude to Sadrist CoR member Gufran Abbod Husayn al-Saadi when she attempted to protest. Azhar claimed that in retaliation, Mashhadani's chief bodyguard was attacked and wounded by a knife- wielding assailant in Baghdad on May 9. ¶3. (C) At the May 10 session, Sadrists distributed a written complaint to all members upon arrival about the incident. Shortly after the session convened, al-Saadi spoke out of turn, demanding that she be allowed to have the floor. Mashhadani said he would give her an opportunity to speak after the CoR completed its discussion of the Independent Election Commission of Iraq (IECI). Mashhadani proposed that a committee be formed to review the circumstances of the May 8 scuffle, but al- Saadi vociferously refused. Al-Saadi left her seat and sat down in the front row next to outgoing PM Ibrahim Ja'fari (who had arrived late),ignoring guards who attempted to have her sit in her proper place. According to Abdul-Rahman, Ja'fari smiled at al-Saadi, reached over and turned on her microphone. A yelling match ensued between Mashhadani and al-Saadi. Da'wa member Kamal Abdullah Khallawi al-Saidi came over to calm al-Saadi. This did not work. Members of SCIRI, Iraqiyya and Tawaffuq tried to calm her down. Shia Coalition Independent Hussein Shahristani and Sunni Mithal al-Alusi also tried in vain. ¶4. (C) When al-Saadi yelled, "There is terrorism in this room!" Mashhadani abruptly adjourned the session and stormed out of the room. Al-Saadi rushed straight to the press corps. DPM Rosch Shaways commented to PolOff, "What a circus!" The rest of the Kurds retreated from the unair-conditioned chamber to the coolness of Deputy Speaker Arif Taifour's office. After 30 minutes, Mashhadani emerged from the shadow of Nasir al-Janabi standing on stage. PM Ibrahim Jafari went about rounding up members to reconvene, leading Tawafuq's Nasir al- Janabi away from the stage and directing him to his seat. -------------- Getting down to CoR Business -------------- ¶5. (C) The CoR, in its May 10 session voted to extend for three months the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) whose mandate expired on that day. During the three month period, a CoR committee will be formed to draft legislation for a new IECI. This was followed by Da'wa member Hassan al-Senied reading the proposed amendments to the CoR by-laws. The CoR will next meet on Sunday, May 14 at 11:00. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) This incident reminds that while the Sunni Arabs BAGHDAD 00001558 002 OF 002 and their Shia and Kurdish compatriots are all together in the parliament, the suspicion and anger that many feel towards each other lies not far below the surface. It is also important to note that after the little fracas the parliament was able to go back to work. Building trust will take far more than some parliament and cabinet sessions. SATTERFIELD