COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES APPROVES COMPOSITION OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 002130 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2016 TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ SUBJECT: COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES APPROVES COMPOSITION OF 19 OF 24 COMMITTEES REF: BAGHDAD 2112 Classified By: Classified by Political Counselor Margaret M. Scobey for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) On June 21, the Council of Representatives approved the membership of 19 of its 24 permanent standing committees. Deputy Speaker al-Attiya deftly moved discussion beyond committees where the number of nominees was fewer than the minimum of seven prescribed in the bylaws (Tribal and Membership) or prestigious committees where parties could not agree on the final candidate list (Foreign Relations, Security and Defense, and Education). ¶2. (C) Article 73 of the bylaws states that once established, committees have three days to elect chairs, vice-chairs, and rapporteurs. CoR contacts report, however, that the blocs may have already made most committee leadership decisions and the leadership votes will be pro-forma. For example, a wide range of contacts tell us that SCIRI's Humam al-Hammudi will chair the Foreign Relations Committee, and Sadrist Baha al-Araji will chair the Legal Committee. ¶3. (U) In the June 21 session, the CoR also finished the second reading of the law on replacing members. Debate centered around what crimes would disqualify a CoR member and how member replacement should be determined. The better part of the discussion occurred over whether female members who leave the CoR must be replaced by other women. The CoR did not reach agreement on this point and the Bylaws Committee told the assembly that it would examine the issue as well as other points and amendments raised. SPECKHARD