Shafaq News- Baghdad

The Iraqi Journalists Syndicate opened its 23rd general conference and elections in Baghdad on Friday as the head of the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate accused the body’s leadership of legal and institutional violations.

Shafaq News correspondent in Baghdad said the conference opened at the syndicate’s headquarters under judicial supervision, with voting limited to journalists holding active membership status. The elections cover the posts of syndicate president, two deputy presidents, six members of the syndicate council, three members of the disciplinary committee, and three members of the monitoring committee.

Speaking at the opening session, syndicate president Muayyad al-Lami said the vote was being held amid “complex regional and international challenges,” while highlighting recent syndicate programs aimed at supporting journalists, including the distribution of more than 20,000 housing units to journalists across Iraq in recent years, and pledged to continue working to meet the “professional and social needs” of its members.

Ahead of the conference, the president of the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate, Azad Hamad Amin Sheikh Younis, issued an open letter urging conference participants to reconsider what he described as long-standing legal and institutional problems within the Iraqi syndicate, including concerns related to governance, independence, and outdated legislation.

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