Committees’ recent meetings – 14 November 2019
A summary of Kurdistan Parliament committees’ recent meetings and activities:
Martyrs’ Affairs, Genocide and Political Prisoners Committee
12 November - The committee led by the chair Ms. Sawsan Muhammad Mirkhan (KDP) held their regular meeting. They decided to form a number of subcommittees to solve the problems faced by martyrs' families and political prisoners.
The MPs decided that they will work on amending the law on the rights and privileges of the families of martyrs and political prisoners, in coordination with the KRG Ministry of Martyrs, to remedy the law’s shortcomings.
Another focus of the meeting was a review of their work and its results. The committee decided to work more on facilitating educational opportunities for children in families of martyrs and political prisoners.
They reviewed all the notes and requests from the public and responded to them
Committee on Kurdistani Areas outside KRG Administrative Area
12 November - The committee held a press conference on the successful outcome of their case at the the Federal Supreme Court against certain amendments to the Iraq Provincial Elections Law.
The law, which was passed by the Iraqi Council of Representatives on 22 July 2019, violated provisions in the Iraqi Constitution on the right of the people to vote. The law as it stood would have prevented tens of thousands of IDPs from voting in the Iraqi provincial elections, which are scheduled for April 2020. Especially Kurds who have been displaced from their areas such as Kirkuk, Makhmour, Khaneqin and Nineveh, and cannot return to their own areas currently. The committee, in coordination with the Kurdistan Parliament’s Presidency and through their lawyer challenged the law at the Supreme Federal Court of Iraq and on 12 November won their case. The court upheld their claims and repealed articles 3, 12, 16 and 17 of the Law.
At the press conference, the committee members congratulated the people of Kurdistan on ruling which overturned the violations of their voting rights.
On the same day, the committee welcomed Monia Atzi Motsi from the UNAMI Office in Erbil. The committee chair Ms. Jiwan Rojbayani (KDP) first briefed the UNAMI representative on the situation in the Kurdistani areas outside the KRG area, and the impact of the current unrest and demonstrations in Iraq on the Kurdistan region, in particular the possibility of amending the Iraqi constitution. The committee called on the United Nations to help protect the Kurdistan Region’s rights in the constitution, in particular Article 140 which should have been implemented by 2007.
Agriculture and Irrigation Committee
12 November - The committee led by the chair Mr. Osman Awla (Osman Ali Smail, KIG) held their regular meeting. They discussed the formalization of agricultural employees, and considered it necessary for the KRG to formalize them in view of the importance of the agricultural sector. The committee decided to look into the issue of agricultural land, and write an official report to the Presidency of the Kurdistan Parliament asking them to help resolve the issue.
The MPs discussed all the notes and requests submitted by farmers and farmers’ organisations.
Peshmerga, Interior, Security and Local Councils Committee
12 November - A subcommittee visited the location where two Peshmerga soldiers of Unit 70 were tragically killed. The subcommittee discussed the tragic incident with the commanders and soldiers of the force, and met with witnesses to report their findings to Parliament’s Presidency.
Culture, Civil Society, Sports and Youth Committee
12 November - The committee held a special workshop to prepare the bill on commercial advertising in Kurdistan Region. They organized the workshop together with Parliament’s Research Centre and officials from the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Culture. Civil society organizations and academics specializing in commerce, marketing and media also took part.
The committee chair Mr. Lukman Wardy (PUK) said, ”The committee has been working on this bill for several months, with the advice of research centres and civil society institutions”. The purpose of the workshop was to improve and regulate commercial advertising, and Mr. Wardy asked the participants to submit their suggestions and comments to the committee. Then the committee’s advising staff also made their comments on the bill, which currently has 15 articles.