Political blocs split over parl. dissolving

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A lawmaker from the Sadrist Movement, or Iraqis loyal to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, rejected calls by the Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) to dissolve parliament if bids to elect a speaker failed while another legislator from the Iraqi National List (INL) supported the call. “The Sadrist Movement bloc rejects calls to dissolve parliament as the IAF called,” Nassar al-Rubaie told IraqiNews.com news agency. An official spokesman for the IAF, Saleem al-Juburi, had expressed the front’s wish to dissolve parliament after the withdrawal of the blocs from the sessions in which the IAF named candidates for the speaker post. “The Sadrist Movement had called a year ago for dissolving the parliament due to its bad formation based on sectarian, partisan and ethnic division, not to mention the domination by 51 percent of the number of members over the legislation enacted by the House. They certainly serve their own interests, not bearing in mind the Iraqi people’s,” Rubaie said. He ascribed the House’s failure during its Feb. 9 session to name a speaker to the quota system on which the parliament was established. “The IAF has a final chance to name a candidate to vote over otherwise it will have to open the door for candidacy of other blocs,” Rubaie stressed. Five candidates are vying over the speaker post: Iyad al-Samarraie of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), independent lawmaker Wathab al-Dulaimi, Iraqi National Dialogue Council (INDC) Khalil Jaddou, Abad Motlak al-Juburi of the Independent Arab Bloc and independent legislator Hussein al-Falluji. The Iraqi parliament is still without a speaker since former speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani’s resignation was accepted in an extraordinary session held on December 23, 2008 after a squabble between him and members of the security & defense and legal committees and some words he said which were considered “insulting.” For her part, Aliya Nassif, an INL legislator, said her list supports the dissolution of the parliament on the grounds that its monitoring role has been “on the back burner,” noting the Presidential Board (PB) is hampering the House’s legislations that contain “many violations”. “The House is waiting for the Federal Court ruling after Mahmoud al-Mashhadani applied for returning as a member,” she told IraqiNews.com. On the other hand, legal expert Tareq Harb said it would be difficult to dissolve parliament or its speakership board because the Iraqi constitution has provided for the approval of 138 out of the total 275 members to dissolve the House. “Any number of legislators may apply for dissolving the parliament but it would be hard to get 138 votes,” he added. AmR (I)/SR 3