Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq's parliament will vote on Thursday to complete the membership of its standing committees and name their chairs, the only item on the session's agenda, though political blocs have yet to agree on who should lead all of them.

Lawmakers will vote on the members of the remaining committees, with the total number of standing committees still under discussion at between 22 and 25 as blocs consider adding committees as part of the political negotiations, a parliamentary source told Shafaq News. They will also vote on some committee chairs, leaving the remaining leadership posts until blocs reach a deal.

The Parliament is expected to vote on the heads of parliamentary committees during Thursday’s session, with further discussions still underway over the deputies of some committee chairs, Firas al-Mislmawi, a member of the Reconstruction and Development Coalition, led by Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, told Shafaq News.

The Political and parliamentary blocs had reached a broad consensus on approving the committees scheduled for a vote during the session, he clarified.

Al-Mislmawi said the session would include a vote on the allocation of committees among parliamentary blocs, covering committee chairmanships, some rapporteur positions, and deputy chairs.

The negotiations and consultations had taken considerable time, he said, adding that upcoming meetings of the Coordination Framework and other political groups would settle the appointments of deputy chairs for the remaining committees in line with their respective requirements.

Committees are divided into three tiers, A, B and C, and under a political agreement a bloc cannot chair a committee overseeing a ministry held by one of its own ministers, the source said.

Talks are still under way, and the issue is likely to be settled in the coming days, Aref Abdul Jalil al-Hamami, a lawmaker from the State of Law coalition, said earlier on Wednesday.

A source in the Coordination Framework, the largest bloc in parliament, told Shafaq News that the alliance's regular leaders' meeting, set for Monday, was postponed because a committee it tasked with coordinating with parliament had not finished resolving the appointment of deputy committee chairs.

Parliament amended its bylaws on Feb. 17 and announced 22 standing committees for its current term, including a merged committee for culture, media, tourism and antiquities. It voted on the members of 11 committees in March, but the distribution of leadership posts has remained tied to deals between the blocs.