Parliamentary blocs hold meeting on article 50 Thursday

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: MP from al-Rafidayn List Younadem Kana said on Wednesday that the parliamentary blocs’ meeting held today on article 50 ended without outcome, noting that a new meeting will be held tomorrow. “The blocs will hold another meeting tomorrow to unify all suggestions or to keep article 50 or to form a committee to solve the issue,” Kana told IraqiNews.com. “Today’s meeting witnessed the presentation of a number of suggestions, including keeping article 50 as it is or to amend it,” said the lawmaker, whose bloc has only one seat in the parliament. He called on all blocs to abandon complicated suggestions that could not be adopted as Iraq “in a transitional period.” Kana had said yesterday that there is a semi-unanimity to include article 50 of the elections law, which provided for set quotas for minorities, in a special law. “The option presented in the parliament is to enact a special law to include article 50 and there is a semi-unanimity among political blocs on this opinion,” Kana told IraqiNews.com. The presidential cabinet chief had said that the Presidential Board (PB) on Tuesday endorsed the provincial councils election law with the unanimity of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and his Vice Presidents Adel Abdelmahdi and Tareq al-Hashemi. “The law was approved by the PB and article 50 was referred to parliament as a draft law from the board,” Nusseir al-Aani said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com. On Sebtember 24, the Iraqi parliament passed the provincial council law. However, its canceling of article 50 of the law, which provided for set quotas for minorities, raised hue and cry as several political and social organizations advocating minorities’ rights condemned the measure. SH (S) 1