The Advocacy Front faces “a framework leader’s frustration” and “women’s rebellion” in the sixth att

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[size=52]The Advocacy Front faces “a framework leader’s frustration” and “women’s rebellion” in the sixth attempt to pass the election law[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad / Tamim Al-Hassan[/size]
[size=45]For the sixth time, the House of Representatives will try to vote on the new election law, after it failed to achieve a quorum in last Saturday's session.[/size]
[size=45]In a precedent, parliament was forced to set two different dates for two sessions in one day, one of them only 20 minutes after the first, which showed the state of confusion within the influential forces.[/size]
[size=45]The differences had expanded within the coordination framework this time over the election law, as information was reported about a "Shiite leadership's anger" over some paragraphs of the law.[/size]
[size=45]Likewise, for the first time, there was a "rebellion" of women deputies affiliated with the ruling parties, in addition to objections from minorities and a dispute over Kirkuk.[/size]
[size=45]And the large blocs achieved (in Saturday's session) the worst quorum since the start of the discussion of the version of the law presented by the coordination framework two weeks ago, with less than a third of the parliament members.[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, the independent deputies opposing the passage of the law spoke of an unprecedented rise in the opposition front.[/size]
[size=45]before dawn[/size]
[size=45]As the clock passed midnight last Saturday, Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi decided to announce a second session to avoid a legal breach that he might fall into.[/size]
[size=45]At that time, the session was set before the Newroz holiday last Tuesday, after Parliament was able, through exceptional measures, to achieve a quorum and pass part of the articles of the law, while the rest of the paragraphs were postponed to the Saturday session.[/size]
[size=45]Hadi al-Salami, one of the deputies opposing the new election law, said in an interview with Al-Mada: “At 12:40 a.m. on the night of Saturday into Sunday, al-Halbousi decided to open a second session at one o’clock in the morning of Sunday!”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Salami added, "This is a clear violation of the rules of procedure of the House of Representatives, as it is supposed to announce the new session at least 48 hours in advance."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Halbousi had been forced to open a new session to avoid appealing the date of the session and moving it to another day other than the one set in the agenda.[/size]
[size=45]The opposition had previously challenged the Sunday session of last week, which actually began its work at dawn on Monday.[/size]
[size=45]After midnight on Saturday, the parliament published a document confirming the announcement of a new session at 1 am on Monday (26 March) to vote on the election law, before it decided to postpone it until 8:30 pm on the same day.[/size]
[size=45]The previous session had also been set at 8:30 pm last Saturday, then it was postponed to 10:30 because the quorum was not achieved.[/size]
[size=45]It is not known (until the moment of writing the report) whether Parliament will be able to proceed with enacting the law in the new session, or whether it will be forced to remain until dawn again.[/size]
[size=45]Before the last two sessions, Parliament had failed three times to discuss the election law, once because the quorum was not achieved, and once by adjourning the date of the session.[/size]
[size=45]This happened when the protesters were at the gates of the Green Zone, and information reached the parliament that supporters of the Sadrist movement might infiltrate the ranks of the demonstrators.[/size]
[size=45]However, this time the opponents will wage a battle to break the quorum on their own, as the protesters decided not to continue the sit-in, which was announced last Thursday.[/size]
[size=45]A statement by the protesters attributed the end of the sit-in to “besieging them by the security forces” and “poor coordination with some opposition forces inside Parliament and changing their positions.”[/size]
[size=45]And Amer Abdel-Jabbar, the independent deputy, revealed in a video clip that "some independents did not boycott the Saturday session because of their affiliation with the coordination framework."[/size]
[size=45]Abdul-Jabbar called on the demonstrators to put pressure on these deputies to join the opposition team.[/size]
[size=45]Anger.. and withdrawal[/size]
[size=45]And about that night, sources in Parliament spoke to (Al-Mada), who were present at the Saturday-Sunday session, about surprises.[/size]
[size=45]The sources, who asked not to be identified, stated that there is information about "the anger of Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Badr Organization, who entered Parliament on Saturday evening and then left in a hurry after that."[/size]
[size=45]The sources do not know precisely the reason for "Al-Amiri's appearance at that session and the reason for his withdrawal from parliament at the time of the discussions to achieve a quorum."[/size]
[size=45]Pictures on some electronic platforms on Telegram showed Al-Amiri while he was inside the House of Representatives, while the reason for his presence was not known.[/size]
[size=45]According to the sources, it is believed that Al-Amiri's anger was one of the reasons that led to the collapse of the front of supporters of the electoral law, but the reason for the dispute has not yet been revealed.[/size]
[size=45]And the sources add, “Women’s deputies rebelled against the coordination framework and boycotted the session due to disagreements over the women’s quota.”[/size]
[size=45]The parties in Parliament object to giving women seats outside the quota in the event that a woman wins votes outside the quota set at 25% of the total members of Parliament.[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, the minorities (components) are part of them boycotting the session, according to what the sources narrate, due to objections to the size of the representation and demands to increase the quota as well.[/size]
[size=45]In addition, there is a problem related to the status of Kirkuk and checking voter records, while Kurdish parties said that they had "cancelled this article."[/size]
[size=45]Commenting on the problem of Kirkuk, Shakhwan Abdullah, deputy speaker of parliament and a leader in the Kurdistan Democratic Party, said: “We removed Article 35 of the law and refused to include it. It is not possible to distinguish between Kirkuk province and any other province.”[/size]
[size=45]Abdullah hinted, in televised statements on the night of Saturday's session, that there are differences within the Shiite alliance, and that some of the "framework" parties are not yet in favor of holding elections.[/size]
[size=45]Abdullah added that "with the holding of the elections (referring to the coordination framework), the quorum would be complete and there would be no problem."[/size]
[size=45]In the framework of his statements, Abdullah referred to the withdrawal of the head of one of the powerful blocs within the coordination framework, in last Saturday's session, but (he did not mention his name).[/size]
[size=45]The coordination framework refuses to acknowledge breaking the quorum of the last session, despite the postponement of the new session (Sunday dawn) to more than 17 hours behind its schedule.[/size]
[size=45]Thamer al-Hamdani, a representative of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, says, "There is no breaking of the quorum of the session, but some people imagine or believe that this is to gain sympathy or appease his group."[/size]
[size=45]Theban added in a statement that "the session did not take place because there was a disagreement over some paragraphs, which are Kirkuk, the quota for women, and the quota for minorities," noting that "the law will be approved sooner or later by St. Lego."[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, the opponents of the electoral law will remain on the "boycott" plan, and Hadi al-Salami talks about the increase in the number of the objectors' front to "90 deputies."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Salami says that «120 deputies did not attend from the supporter team, and they are a group of permanent absentees (aliens) in the House of Representatives, most of whom live outside Iraq».[/size]
[size=45]Information had estimated the number of attendees from the front supporting the electoral law at about 100 deputies out of 329.[/size]
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