PARLIAMENT PASSES BYLAWS; DEADLOCK OVER SPEAKER'S

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 002037 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT PASSES BYLAWS; DEADLOCK OVER SPEAKER'S POWERS ON PERSONNEL ISSUES BROKEN REF: BAGHDAD 1985 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: After reaching agreement on language concerning the Speaker's powers on personnel issues (reftel), the Council of Representatives (CoR) completed its work on the bylaws June 14. The CoR will now move on to the formation of committees. The agreed upon language says that personnel decisions will be made by consensus between the Speaker and the two deputies. The CoR also amended the bylaws to add an article mandating that every session start with a Quranic reading and to delete the article that would have established an Independent Commissions Committee. END SUMMARY -------------- Personnel Issues to be Decided by Consensus -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The agreed-upon language for Article 9 (Section 12) states that the Speaker and his two deputies will take decisions related to the hiring, firing, and oversight of CoR employees by consensus, with orders coming from the Speaker's office. In case one of the three is absent, decisions will be taken with the approval of the remaining two. ¶3. (SBU) After some debate between the Shia Coalition and Tawafuq members over the ability of the Speaker to convene and adjourn a session (addressed in Article 11),the CoR agreed that the Speaker (or in his absence, his two deputies) can call a session according to the agreed upon agenda. The session will adjourn by agreement of a majority of the Presidency Commission (Speaker and two Deputies),as long as the Speaker is part of that majority. In the Speaker's absence, the two Deputies can adjourn a session as long as they both are in agreement. -------------- - All CoR Sessions to Open With Quranic Reading -------------- - ¶4. (SBU) Hassan al-Shemmeri (Fadhila) announced that a suggestion to start each CoR session with a reading from the Quran had been signed by 50 members and presented to the Bylaws Drafting Committee. This amendment was widely supported by UIC members, but was opposed by some from the Kurdish Alliance, Tawafuq, and Iraqiyya who argued that this issue should be discussed after the bylaws were finished due to its sensitivity ) one member suggested that the CoR should see how other Parliaments in the Middle East open their sessions. The Speaker called for a vote, and the amendment passed. (NOTE: Through his statements after the amendment passed, it was clear that the Speaker was in favor of the amendment. END NOTE.) -------------- -- The Independent Commissions Committee Abolished -------------- -- ¶5. (SBU) The CoR voted to remove Article 111 -- which created the Independent Commissions Committee -- from the bylaws. Oversight of the Commissions covered under the article (the IECI, the Media and Communications Commission, and the IPCC) will be handled by existing relevant committees. SPECKHARD