Iraq's parliament quorum at risk over "incompetent" Ambassador list

Shafaq News – Baghdad

Iraqi lawmakers have agreed to break the quorum in today’s parliament session if the list of ambassadorial nominees is put to a vote, a senior official reported to Shafaq News on Tuesday.

MP Ibtisam Al-Hilali of the Coordination Framework (CF), a coalition of ruling Shiite parties, criticized the list, highlighting that many of the candidates lack competence and are closely affiliated with political parties.

Noting that their nomination violates the Foreign Service Law, she added that parliament members have not received the candidates’ resumes.

“How can council members vote on names they do not know, whose backgrounds, competence, and diplomatic experience are unknown?” she asked.

Haider Al-Salami, a member of the parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee, pointed out that the names on the list and the nominees for ambassadorial posts “are unknown and unfamiliar.”

On Monday, lawmakers noted that a parliamentary session also failed to reach a quorum after the council’s leadership brought up the item “vote on the list of ambassadors.”

Although the session was halted, the parliamentary media office later confirmed that the vote on the ambassadorial list had been added to today’s agenda.