Parliament votes against Iraqi President’s proposal to increase number of his Vice-Presidents:

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi Parliament has voted to reject the Iraqi President’s proposal to increase the number of his Vice-Presidents to four, in order to grant the 4th seat to the Turkomen community in the country, a Legislature for the National Coalition said on Wednesday. “The Parliament members have voted to reject the proposal of President Jalal Talabani for the increase of the number of his Vice-Presidents from three to four,” pointing out that “the Parliament’s Legal Committee had failed to complete reading the text of the President’s proposal due to the opposition of a large number of legislatures of the proposal,” Ali al-Tamimi told IraqiNews.com news agency. Noteworthy is that the Presidency’s media office had announced on 7/2/2011 that President Jalal Talabani had presented a proposal for the Parliament to adjust the law on the Vice-Presidents, calling for the addition of a 4th seat and the nomination a Turkoman personality to occupy the post. Meanwhile, a source close to the Parliament told IraqiNews.com that “there is an intension, along with talks carried out outside the Parliament Hall, to replace Khudhier al-Khuza’e, one of two candidates, presented by the National Coalition, for the Vice-President’s post, by a Turkoman personality. The Legislature of al-Ahrar (Liberals) bloc in the Parliament, Maha al-Douri, had demanded the National Coallition to replace Khudhier al-Khuza’e’s nomination for the Vice-Presidents post, pointing out that 90 signatures had been collected by the Parliament members to form an investigation committee about the contracts, signed by the Education Ministry during the period when Khuza’e held the post of Education Minister in the previous cabinet. ST / SKH 740