Legal expert Counselor Salem Hawass announced today, Saturday, that the prolongation and delay in the election sessions for the Speaker of the House of Representatives violates the constitution, the bylaws, the law on replacing members, and the decision of the Federal Supreme Court. Hawass said in a statement: 'The current effective Iraqi Constitution of 2005 stipulates in its Article 59 : First: A quorum for the sessions of the House of Representatives is achieved in the presence of an absolute majority of its members. Second: Decisions are taken in the sessions of the House of Representatives by a simple majority, after achieving a quorum, unless otherwise stated. Hawass added: 'As for the internal regulations of the House of Representatives No. 1 of 2022, which consists of 150 articles, which are more than the articles of the constitution itself and are taken from it, Article 23 of this regulation stipulates: the quorum for the Council meeting is achieved by the presence of an absolute majority of its me mbers and its decisions are taken by a simple majority of the number of members present unless the Constitution stipulates otherwise, and in the event of a tie, the side with which the President voted shall prevail.' Hawass wondered, according to the statement, 'Who is the president if the election was for the president? Is he the first vice president who replaced the president and became the acting president? Or the interim president at the beginning of the electoral session? Or does the text pertain to the beginning of the electoral session? It does not include this space, or the subsequent vacancy of the position! He explained, 'The provisions of Article 24 of the House of Representatives' Bylaws No. 1 of 2022 stipulate: The session may not be opened unless the quorum of attendance stipulated in Article 23 of this bylaw is achieved. If it becomes clear that the quorum is not complete, the President postpones its opening for a period not less than half an hour. If it is not completed either, the President announces the postponement of the session and sets another date for it to be held. Hawass stated, 'The provisions of Article 25 of the above-mentioned bylaws stipulate: The presence of a quorum is necessary when voting and is not a condition for the validity of the continuation of the meeting.' Hawass pointed to the Member Replacement Law No. 6 of 2006, which consists of only three articles. It stipulates in its first article: First - Membership in the House of Representatives ends for one of the following reasons: - This article mentioned four items, while the provisions of its second article stipulated: 'If one of the seats in the House of Representatives becomes vacant for one of the reasons mentioned in Article One, and four cases were also mentioned.' He added: 'The provisions of Article 2 of the Member Replacement Law stipulate: If one of the seats in the House of Representatives becomes vacant for one of the reasons mentioned in Article One, he will be replaced by a candidate from the same list for which the seat allocated to him in the House of Representatives was vacant, according to the order indicated in the above article. Hawass indicated, according to the statement that the provisions of Article 12, Clause Three, of the House of Representatives' Bylaws No. 1 of 2022 stipulate: If the position of Speaker of the Council or any of his two deputies becomes vacant for any reason, the Council shall elect, by an absolute majority, a successor to him in the first session it holds to fill it in accordance with the controls of political balances between the blocs. Unfortunately, dozens of sessions have passed, including today's session, and it has failed miserably 'according to his description.' Source: National Iraqi News Agency
Saturday, September 21, 2024