SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – The Iraqi parliament is missing nearly a quarter of its members every time it convenes, according to Imad Youkhana, a Christian MP and leading member of the al-Rafidain parliamentary bloc.
He claimed that the 328-seat body is missing nearly 80 members at every sitting, of whom nearly 30 are tasked with parliamentary duties or serving with the Shiite Hash al-Shaabi forces. The rest of the absentees show up after parliamentary sessions, citing sickness or funeral services to justify their absence.
Youkhana said that this situation has drawn criticism from civil society organizations which monitor the parliament’s performance. “The presidency of the parliament continuously asks all factions to inform their members to be present in the parliament. There have been times where important bills couldn’t be passed due to the lack of MPs in the parliament.”
The third term of the Iraqi parliament, which started in the summer of 2014, has 328 MPs. The parliament’s by-laws stipulate that there are two 5-month seasons for drafting legislation and MPs are entitled to take a two-month recess.
The commencement of this term of parliament coincided with the formation of the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi forces. The parliament passed a law regarding representatives wishing to serve with the Hashd al-Shaabi forces. Under this law, these MPs can still receive their salaries and are exempt from attending parliamentary sessions, providing that they produce an official letter from the forces to show their commitment to them.
“Some MPs produce medical reports due to which the presidency of the parliament erases their absence. There are MPs who stay absent for six to seven sessions, claiming that they were away on a mission to visit internally displaced people. The speaker of the parliament would later ask that their absence be erased,” Youkhana said.
“Big parliamentary blocs like the National Alliance and al-Iraqia factions register most absentees,” Youkhana claimed.
An MP with the Kurdistan Democratic Party claimed that the main reason for the high absentee numbers is the pretext of attending to Hashd al-Shaabi duties, which some use as an excuse to skip parliamentary sessions while still getting paid.
“The main reason behind this is the parliamentary law passed regarding the Hashd al-Shaabi forces. For example, Hadi Amri is an MP and a ranking official with the Hashd al-Shaabi. He gets his salary and sometimes attends sessions. But some MPs have taken advantage of this law. They neither attend parliamentary sessions, nor did they attend to the commitments they claim they have with the Hashd al-Shaabi. Yet, they still get paid,” said Ardalan Nuradini.
“Having 40 to 50 MPs absent in parliamentary sessions is a bad phenomenon. These MPs should be investigated,” the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) MP Bakhtiar Shaweys said, adding, “The importance of the session affects the number of absentees. More MPs show up if the session is important enough that absentees will be investigated.”
There are five Kurdish factions which have 65 MPs in total in the Iraqi parliament. These two MPs say that Kurds have most attendance in parliamentary sessions. “We have most attendance, and the Shiites have the most absentees,” Shaweys claimed.
According to Article 1 of Section 18 of the parliamentary by-laws, names of attendees and absentees in parliamentary sessions will be recorded and published in a newspaper and the parliament’s paper.
The second article states, “If an MP is absent for 5 consecutive times or 10 times intermittently without producing valid excuses for his absence during the annual seasons in which legislation is made, the presidency of the parliament can write to them, notifying them and asking for their commitment. If they do not show up in front of the presidency, the matter will then be referred to the assembly at the request of the presidency.”
The third article states, “An amount of money will be deducted from salaries of MPs who do not attend parliamentary sessions.”
According to the parliament’s by-laws, MPs are entitled to take a 14-day normal leave. The presidency of the parliament can ask for a replacement if an MP takes more than 90 days sick leave on the basis of medical reports, according to the law regarding replacing members of parliament.
Salaries for Iraqi MPs differ according to their qualifications. The lowest salary is 5,500,000 Iraqi dinars (about $4,650) and the highest is 9,000,000 dinars. The amount of 500,000 dinars will be cut from their salaries if they fail to attend a session without valid excuse.
“The situation of MPs not attending parliamentary sessions has not yet become a phenomenon. There have been times where 500,000 IQD have been deducted from their salaries due to absence with their names published in the media,” Shaweys explained.
He claimed that the 328-seat body is missing nearly 80 members at every sitting, of whom nearly 30 are tasked with parliamentary duties or serving with the Shiite Hash al-Shaabi forces. The rest of the absentees show up after parliamentary sessions, citing sickness or funeral services to justify their absence.
Youkhana said that this situation has drawn criticism from civil society organizations which monitor the parliament’s performance. “The presidency of the parliament continuously asks all factions to inform their members to be present in the parliament. There have been times where important bills couldn’t be passed due to the lack of MPs in the parliament.”
The third term of the Iraqi parliament, which started in the summer of 2014, has 328 MPs. The parliament’s by-laws stipulate that there are two 5-month seasons for drafting legislation and MPs are entitled to take a two-month recess.
The commencement of this term of parliament coincided with the formation of the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi forces. The parliament passed a law regarding representatives wishing to serve with the Hashd al-Shaabi forces. Under this law, these MPs can still receive their salaries and are exempt from attending parliamentary sessions, providing that they produce an official letter from the forces to show their commitment to them.
“Some MPs produce medical reports due to which the presidency of the parliament erases their absence. There are MPs who stay absent for six to seven sessions, claiming that they were away on a mission to visit internally displaced people. The speaker of the parliament would later ask that their absence be erased,” Youkhana said.
“Big parliamentary blocs like the National Alliance and al-Iraqia factions register most absentees,” Youkhana claimed.
An MP with the Kurdistan Democratic Party claimed that the main reason for the high absentee numbers is the pretext of attending to Hashd al-Shaabi duties, which some use as an excuse to skip parliamentary sessions while still getting paid.
“The main reason behind this is the parliamentary law passed regarding the Hashd al-Shaabi forces. For example, Hadi Amri is an MP and a ranking official with the Hashd al-Shaabi. He gets his salary and sometimes attends sessions. But some MPs have taken advantage of this law. They neither attend parliamentary sessions, nor did they attend to the commitments they claim they have with the Hashd al-Shaabi. Yet, they still get paid,” said Ardalan Nuradini.
“Having 40 to 50 MPs absent in parliamentary sessions is a bad phenomenon. These MPs should be investigated,” the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) MP Bakhtiar Shaweys said, adding, “The importance of the session affects the number of absentees. More MPs show up if the session is important enough that absentees will be investigated.”
There are five Kurdish factions which have 65 MPs in total in the Iraqi parliament. These two MPs say that Kurds have most attendance in parliamentary sessions. “We have most attendance, and the Shiites have the most absentees,” Shaweys claimed.
According to Article 1 of Section 18 of the parliamentary by-laws, names of attendees and absentees in parliamentary sessions will be recorded and published in a newspaper and the parliament’s paper.
The second article states, “If an MP is absent for 5 consecutive times or 10 times intermittently without producing valid excuses for his absence during the annual seasons in which legislation is made, the presidency of the parliament can write to them, notifying them and asking for their commitment. If they do not show up in front of the presidency, the matter will then be referred to the assembly at the request of the presidency.”
The third article states, “An amount of money will be deducted from salaries of MPs who do not attend parliamentary sessions.”
According to the parliament’s by-laws, MPs are entitled to take a 14-day normal leave. The presidency of the parliament can ask for a replacement if an MP takes more than 90 days sick leave on the basis of medical reports, according to the law regarding replacing members of parliament.
Salaries for Iraqi MPs differ according to their qualifications. The lowest salary is 5,500,000 Iraqi dinars (about $4,650) and the highest is 9,000,000 dinars. The amount of 500,000 dinars will be cut from their salaries if they fail to attend a session without valid excuse.
“The situation of MPs not attending parliamentary sessions has not yet become a phenomenon. There have been times where 500,000 IQD have been deducted from their salaries due to absence with their names published in the media,” Shaweys explained.
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