Cablegate: Parliament Passes Bylaws; Deadlock Over Speaker's

VZCZCXRO1034
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #2037 1670449
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 160449Z JUN 06 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5100
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC

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

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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

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