Shafaq News – Baghdad

Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, his deputies Mohsen al-Mandalawi and Shakhwan Abdullah, and several lawmakers exchanged heated words on Tuesday, forcing an early end to the parliamentary session in Baghdad, a parliamentary source told Shafaq News.

The source said that the argument was triggered by disagreements over newly added items to the session’s agenda. Tensions escalated when al-Mashhadani objected to including a vote on the leadership and members of the Federal Service Council, leading to a confrontation with al-Mandalawi. The situation quickly deteriorated into a broader dispute involving members of major Shiite Coordination Framework (CF) and Sunni blocs, including lawmakers Alaa al-Haidari and Raad al-Dahlaki.

The session, chaired by al-Mandalawi, was attended by 169 deputies and included key agenda items such as proposed amendments to the Iraq–Saudi Arabia Agreement on the Promotion and Protection of Investment.

Earlier, a separate parliamentary source told Shafaq News that attendance had fallen below 140 lawmakers due to political objections to parts of the agenda—particularly the investment agreement—hindering progress on other scheduled votes.

Recent sessions were disrupted over other divisive proposals, including amendments to the PMF Authority Law, the Political Prisoners Foundation Law, and the Freedom of Assembly and Peaceful Demonstration Law.