Disagreements hinder appointing heads of Parliamentary committees-source

Shafaq News / A disagreement erupted in the Iraqi Parliament over the nomination of the heads of Parliamentary committees, a political source reported.

The source told Shafaq News agency that some Iraqi political parties' leaders insistence on intervening in the nomination of the heads of Parliamentary committees is hindering the whole process.

"The heads of some blocs are trying to force MPs into certain committees even though they are not relevant to the committees' field of work," the source elaborated, "the members of each committee shall be selected in a symmetrical pattern. For instance, the rapporteur of the Defense and Security Committee should not be from the same component the Defense Minister belongs to. The same applies to all the committees in the parliament."

"One of the other major issues impeding the passing of the committees' lineups is everybody's desire to be leading the class A committees, i.e., the sovereign committees. The criterion, however, is the electoral weight."

"The largest blocs justified claiming the most influential committees by their electoral weight," the source added.

Last week, the Parliament's Presidium discussed the Parliamentary committees' formation according to the constitution.