A Parliamentary proposal to vote on the Federal Court and the budget bills in the same ballot

Shafaq News / A parliamentary source reported today that there is a political proposal to vote on the Federal Court and the budget bills in the same ballot tomorrow.

The source told Shafaq News Agency, "the Shiite blocs will not object voting on the region’s share of the budget as stated in the government text, if the Kurdish blocs give up on the unanimous voting in the Federal Court bill."

Discussions are still ongoing in the Parliament to agree on the remaining articles to pass the bill.

The Iraqi Parliament is only one step short of achieving consensus over the Federal Supreme Court bill after resolving the differences over two out of three unsettled provisions.

In the same context, a Parliamentary source told Shafaq News Agency that the political blocs in the Council of Representatives reached an agreement upon articles 2 and 3, indicating that negotiations are still underway over the 21st article related to the voting procedure (by majority, two thirds, or consensus).

The source said that if the ongoing negotiations hit an impasse, the parliament will pass the two agreed on articles and table the 21st article to another session.

However, the Presidium of the Parliament adjourned the session dedicated for voting on the bill until today at 0700 pm, after failing to secure the required quorum in the session scheduled earlier today at 1100 am.

The meeting of the Presidium with the heads of the parliamentary bloc, held at noon, came to nought after the discussions over the remaining three provisions broke down.

A Parliamentary source revealed that many MPs boycotted the session for enlisting the voting on the bill on its agenda, with the differences still unsettled.