PARLIAMENT SEEKS IECI GUIDANCE ON HOW MEMBERS ARE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001825 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/30/2026 TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT SEEKS IECI GUIDANCE ON HOW MEMBERS ARE REPLACED Classified By: Classified by Political Counselor Robert S. Ford for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Deputy Council of Representatives (CoR) Speaker Arif Taifour told PolOff and PolFSN May 24 that Speaker Mahmoud Mashadani had sent a letter to the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) requesting their guidance on how members who have resigned to become ministers or members of the Presidency Council are to be replaced. Taifour added that the political parties hope to have the flexibility to choose replacement members, but that they will respect the decision of the IECI. ¶2. (U) Sixteen CoR members have resigned to become Prime Minister (one),Presidency Council members (three),or Ministers (12). All 16 members are male: eight from the Shia Coalition, four from the Kurdish Alliance, two from Tawafuq, and two from Iraqiyya. To date, no member has officially been replaced. (Note: Article 49 (sixth) of the Constitution states, "It is not permissible to combine membership in the Council of Representatives with any work or other official position." Article 14(1) of the Electoral Law states, "If a member of the Council of Representatives loses his seat for any reason he shall be replaced by the next candidate on the list according to the order on the list." End Note). ¶3. (C) According to Jose Maria Aranaz, the IECI international Legal Advisor who is preparing the guidelines, as well as Commissioner Safwat Sadiqi, the CoR Speaker should send the IECI the names, gender, and list in which the individuals were elected. Then, the IECI will identify the next individuals on the respective electoral lists in accordance with Article 14 of the Electoral Law. (Comment: This rule applies regardless of the party affiliation of the next person, which may differ on electoral lists submitted by the political blocs.) Because no ordered list exists for compensatory seats, the parties will have more flexibility to choose replacement candidates for departing members who are in these seats (NOTE: Of the 16 members, three were elected via compensatory seats.) ¶4. (C) According to Aranaz, once the IECI Board of Commissioners receives and reviews the lists, they should then certify the names and pass them back to the CoR and the President. The IECI Commissioners reportedly met May 25 to discuss this issue and are preparing a written response to the CoR Speaker on the requirements and process as outlined above. ¶5. (C) Preliminary Post analysis of the lists on which departing members were elected shows that, if this guidance is followed, the 16 male members will be replaced by five females, eight males, and three unknowns: ¶1. Nazar Rabee Ne'mah (UIC/male/14 Basrah list) replaces Abd al-Falah Hassan al-Sudani (2 Basrah list) ¶2. Raghad Hadi Adnan (UIC/female/12 Nasiriyya list) replaces Adil Abd al-Mahdi (1 Nasiriyya list) ¶3. Broyef Salih Mawlood (KAL/female/15 Suleimaniyya list) replaces Barham Salih (5 Suleimaniyya list) ¶4. Esmat Mustafa Muhammad (KAL/male/13 Irbil list) replaces Fawzi Hariri (5 Irbil list) ¶5. Ina'am Ali Muhammad (UIC/male/7 Missan list) replaces Hassan Radhi al-Sari (2 Missan list) ¶6. TBD (KAL) replaces Hoshyar Zebari (compensatory seat) ¶7. Nida' Jawad Ali (UIC/female/36 Baghdad list) replaces Hussein Shahristani (8 Baghdad list) ¶8. Omar Aziz Qader (KAL/male/14 Suleimaniyya list) replaces Jalal Talabani (1 Suleimaniyya list) ¶9. Hazim Muhammad Daws (UIC/make/35 Baghdad list) replaces Khudayr al-Khuza'I (7 Baghdad list) ¶10. TBD (UIC) replaces Mahmoud Muhammad Jawad al-Shaykh Radhi (compensatory seat) ¶11. Ahmad Shalan Mutsher (Iraqiyya/male/2 Missan list) replaces Muhammad Abbas al-Oreibi (1 Missan list) ¶12. TBD (Iraqiyya) replaces Muhammad Tawfeeq Allawi (compensatory seat) ¶13. Ali Hussein al-Allaf (UIC/male/10 Babil list) replace BAGHDAD 00001825 002 OF 002 Nouri al-Maliki (1 Babil list) ¶14. Isra Muhammad Salim (Tawafuq/female/9 Anbar list) replaces Rafia al-Esawi (2 Anbar list) ¶15. Maisoon Ahmed Abd al-Jaleel (UIC/female/6 Karbala list) replaces Riyadh Abd al-Hamza al-Garib (1 Karbala list) ¶16. Salam Zakam Ali (Tawafuq/male/14 Baghdad list) replaces Tariq al-Hashimi (2 Baghdad list) ¶6. (C) Comment. We are checking the party affiliations of the replacement members based on governorate candidate lists. Conceivably, the replacement of the 16 members could alter the balance among parties within the political blocs -- e.g. a Sadrist could be next in line on a governorate list to replace a Dawa Tanzim minister. The UIC and KAL only have one compensatory seat to use to address any inequities between the parties. Also of note, under this process the number of female parliamentarians should increase by at least five. End Comment. KHALILZAD