COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ALLOCATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 002112 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2016 TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ SUBJECT: COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ALLOCATION NEGOTIATIONS COMPLETE REF: BAGHDAD 2081 Classified By: Classified by Political Counselor Margaret M. Scobey for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) The political blocs have completed negotiations on the leadership of the 24 permanent Council of Representatives (CoR) committees, but have not finished the committee membership lists. Once the committee member names are finalized, the CoR will vote to approve the composition of each committee (per Article 72 of the CoR bylaws). This vote is on the CoR agenda for June 21. ¶2. (C) According to several CoR member contacts, of the 24 committees, the Shia Coalition (UIC) will chair 11, the Kurdish Alliance 5, Tawafuq 4, Iraqiyya 2, Hewar 1, and KIU ¶1. (NOTE: Reportedly, Tawafuq already has identified its chairpersons.) Committee chairs have been allocated as follows. -- Foreign Relations ) UIC -- Security and Defense ) UIC -- Legal Affairs ) UIC -- Oil, Gas, and Natural Resources ) Kurdish Alliance -- Integrity ) UIC -- Financial Affairs ) Tawafuq (Ayad al-Sammaraee) -- Economy, Investment, and Reconstruction ) UIC -- Education and Higher Education ) Tawafuq (Alaa Makki) -- Health and Environment ) Kurdish Alliance -- Labor and Services ) Kurdish Alliance -- Regions and Governorates ) Tawafuq (Dhafer al-Ani) -- Human Rights ) UIC -- Culture, Media, Tourism, and Archaeology ) Iraqiyya -- Endowment and Religious Affairs ) UIC -- Refugees, the Displaced and Immigrants Affairs ) Kurdish Alliance -- Agriculture, Water, and Rural Affairs ) Hewar -- De-Baathification ) UIC -- Martyrs, Victims, and Political Prisoners ) Kurdish Islamic Union -- Youth and Sports ) Tawafuq (Amer Habib al-Azawi) -- Women, Family, and Childhood ) UIC -- Civil Society Organizations ) Kurdish Alliance -- Members' Affairs and Parliamentary Development ) Iraqiyya -- Tribal Affairs ) UIC -- Complaints ) UIC ¶3. (C) Kurdish Islamic Union (KIU) bloc leader Sami Atroshi told PolOffs June 20 that he had attended the committee allocation negotiations June 19 as the representative of the smaller parties. He said the political blocs agreed that, as a general principle, the chairs and vice chairs should be from different parties but had acknowledged that this might prove difficult to implement in all cases. Chaldo-Assyrian (Rafidain member) Yonadam Kanna told us that the political blocs had agreed that the UIC, Tawafuq, Kurdish Alliance, and Iraqiyya will have a representative on each committee. He added that all committees will include 5 members from UIC, 3 from the Kurdish Alliance, 2 from Tawafuq, 1 from Iraqiyya, and 1 from the other lists. He also told PolOff June 20 that he would not serve on a committee since he would not be in a leadership position. He said he had wanted to be vice-chairman of the Economy committee but understood that the position would go to a member of Mishan al-Jeboori's Reconciliation and Liberation party. ¶4. (C) Iraqiyya member Safia Suhail told PolOff June 20 that the secular list was unhappy with its committee assignments but had not yet discussed who would chair the committees. Noting that Iraqiyya leader Ayad Allawi had not been involved in the negotiations, Suhail said she had encouraged him to ask the political blocs to revisit the assignments. (NOTE: Communist Party leader Hamid Majeed Mousa represented Iraqiyya in the negotiations. END NOTE). SPECKHARD