2023-09-30

 The House of Representatives held its sixteenth session of the second legislative term of the second legislative year of the electoral cycle under the chairmanship of Mr. Muhammad Al-Halbousi, Speaker of the House, on Saturday 30/9/2023, in the presence of (191) Representatives , which included voting on two draft laws and finished reading and discussing three laws, and also recommended the government to take several measures regarding the tragedy of the fire in the  Hamdaniya district.

-The House read a statement on the tragedy of the fire in the Hamdaniya district (wedding hall) in which it expressed deep sorrow and sadness for the humanitarian disaster that befell the people of the Hamdaniya district, condoling the families of the victims and the Iraqi people for the tragedy that killed dozens of citizens and hundreds of wounded, stressing the need for a deterrent that prevents the disregard for the lives of citizens, calling for hosting the relevant officials to find out the circumstances of the incident and hold the negligent accountable, in addition to demanding compensation for the families of the victims and their inclusion in the Martyrs Law, extending thanks and appreciation to everyone who offered condolences to this painful tragedy.

-Speaker of the House instructed the heads of the parliamentary blocs to participate in the meeting of the families of the victims who came to the House of Representatives building to listen to their demands.

-The House of Representatives decided to recommend to the Government to compensate the families of the victims financially and morally and to treat the injured inside or outside Iraq, provided that the Government allocates the necessary amounts from the emergency budget or the budget of the Ministry of Health according to the Government’s point of view, and to recommend to the Council of Ministers to resend draft laws that provided for compensation for the families of victims of such accidents to include the families of victims of the Hamdaniya district, in addition to recommending the Government to take all measures to prevent such disasters in the future and not to grant approvals for the establishment of meeting rooms or events. Only after meeting the safety and security conditions

-Voting after the inclusion of the paragraph on the agenda and based on a letter from the President of the Republic, appointing Dr. Ali Youssef Al-Shukri as Chairman of the Board of Advisors and Experts in the Presidency of the Republic.

-Voting on the appointment of Mr. Bassem Muhammad Younis Al-Badri as Chairman of the National Commission for Matter and Justice and Mr. Salah Muzahim Al-Jubouri, as Vice Chairman of the Commission, provided that its report on the termination of its work is sent based on Article 25 of the Commission's Law

-Postponing the vote on the draft law of the National Authority for Nuclear, Radiation, Chemical and Biological Regulation submitted by the Health, Environment, Higher Education, and Scientific Research Committees  to the next session.

-Voting on the draft law ratifying an agreement between Iraq and the Government of Armenia to exempt holders of diplomatic and service passports from entry visas submitted by the Foreign Relations Committee

-Postponing the vote on the draft law on the establishment of the province of Halabja in the Republic of Iraq, submitted by the committees of the regions and governorates that are legal and not organized in a region.

-Speaker Halbousi’s affirmation of the commitment of the House of Representatives to legislate the law establishing the province of Halabja for the generous sacrifices it made after addressing it legislatively by approaching the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government by sending the updated map of the governorate to be included in the law.

-Voting on the draft law ratifying the agreement on the exemption of holders of diplomatic and service passports from entry visas between the Government of the Republic of Iraq and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus submitted by the Foreign Relations Committee.

-Commencement on voting to the draft law on statistics and geographic information systems submitted by the Strategic Planning and Federal Service Committee.

-Voting on the formation of a parliamentary committee called the Tribes Committee after its separation from the Endowments and Religious Affairs Committee, provided that the Presidency of the House determines the number and names of the members of the Committee and constitutes an exception to the rules of procedure of the House of Representatives.

Part of the session was chaired by Dr. Shakhwan Abdullah, Vice-Speaker of the House

-The second reading of the proposed law on the First Amendment to the Foreigners’ Residence Law No. (76) of 2017, submitted by the Legal and Security and Defense Committees

-Postponing the first reading of the draft law on the accession of the Republic of Iraq to the International Agreement on Olive Oil and Oil in general of 2015, submitted by the Foreign Relations Committee.

-First reading of the draft law on the ratification of the Air Transport Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Iraq and the Government of the State of Qatar, submitted by the Foreign Relations Committee.

-The second reading of the draft law amending Iraq’s accession to the International Convention on Load Lines of 1966 and the Protocol amending it of 1988, amended in 2003 No. (14) of 2020 submitted by the Foreign Relations Committee.

After that, it was decided to adjourn the session until tomorrow, Sunday.