REPLACEMENT COR MEMBERS UPDATE: 15 OF 18 MEMBERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003045 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/19/2016 TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ SUBJECT: REPLACEMENT COR MEMBERS UPDATE: 15 OF 18 MEMBERS REPLACED; TAWAFUQ AND IRAQIYYA NOT FINISHED REF: A. (A) BAGHDAD 1825 ¶B. (B) BAGHDAD 2690 Classified By: (U) Classified by Acting Political Counselor Mike Adler for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Using the flexibility granted by the Replacement Members Law, the political blocs have almost completed naming new Council of Representatives (CoR) members. Of the 18 members (all male) who resigned, 15 replacement members have been named and 14 sworn in. Of these fifteen, 6 are female, boosting the total number in the CoR to 76. (NOTE: Prior to the law's enactment, directly elected members were to have been replaced by the next person on the governorate electoral list regardless of party affiliation. The new law allows parties to replace their own members, thereby preserving the balance within political blocs. END NOTE) ¶2. (C) The following is a complete list of the replacement members to date (see REF A for original post analysis): -------------- Shia Coalition ) (10 members) -------------- -- Abd al-Ameer al-Ghazali (Independent) vice Hassan Radi al-Sari (Independent) -- Abd al-Jabar Raheef al-Ubodi (Badr Organization) vice Riyadh Abd al-Hamza al-Garib (Badr Organization) -- Ali Hussein al-Alak (Dawa) vice Nuri al-Maliki (Dawa) -- Amer Thamer al-Karam (Independent) vice Hussein Shahristani (Independent) -- En'am Ali al-Jawadi (female/Independent) vice Mahmoud Muhammad al-Sheikh al-Radhi (Independent) -- Faryad Omar Abdullah (SCIRI) vice Adil Abd al-Mahdi (SCIRI) -- Khawla Abd al-Sadiq al-Sudani (female/Dawa Tanzim) vice Shirwan al-Wa'ili -- Layla Kadhum al-Khafaji (female/SCIRI) vice Muwaffaq al-Ruba'i (SCIRI) -- Sahar Jabir al-Atta (female/Dawa Tanzim) vice Khudayr al-Khuza'i (Dawa Tanzim) -- Sua'ad Jameed al-Akabi (female/Dawa Tanzim) vice Abd al-Falah Hassan al-Sudani (Dawa Tanzim) All Shia Coalition replacement members have taken their oaths of office, except for Abd al-Ameer al- Ghazali. Amer Thamer al-Karam, Faryad Omar Abdullah, and Su'aad Hameed al-Akabi were Transitional National Assembly (TNA) members, and Layla Kadhum al-Khafaji was a CoR employee on the constitutional drafting committee. -------------- Kurdish Alliance ) (4 members) -------------- -- Adil Tawfiq Berwani (KDP) vice Fawzi Hariri (KDP) -- Omar Aziz Qader (PUK) vice Barham Saleh (PUK) -- Parween Saleh Ameen (female/PUK) vice Jalal Talabani (PUK) -- Sarteeb Muhammad Kakai (KDP) vice Hoshyar Zebari (KDP) All four new members have been sworn in. Adil Tawfiq Berwani and Sarteeb Muhammad Kakai were TNA members. -------------- Tawafuq ) (2 members) -------------- -- Rasheed Adaii al-Azawi (IIP) vice Rafia al-Esawi or Tariq al-Hashimi (IIP) Al-Azawi has been sworn in. Tawafuq has not yet agreed on its second candidate. -------------- Iraqiyya ) (2 members) -------------- Iraqiyya has not presented its replacement candidates for Muhammad al-Oraibi and Muhammad al-Allawi, but they are still trying to name Adnan al-Janabi and Rasim al-Awadi, both of whom were prevented from taking their original CoR seats by the De- BAGHDAD 00003045 002 OF 002 Ba'athification Commission (REF B). SPECKHARD