Rewaz Faiaq in a heated meeting with NGOs assembly: go ask the government 

Shafaq News/ The Speaker of the Iraqi Kurdistan's Parliament, Rewaz Faiaq, defended the legislative assembly's handling of the issues related to the work of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) in the region, stressing that she will not vindicate the regional government's failure.

Faiaq's remarks came during a meeting with a group of NGOs operating in al-Sulaymaniyah and Halabja earlier today.

At the beginning of the meeting, the top lawmaker was criticized for her initial apology for not attending the mission due to health issues.

"I am not a lazy woman. I never stay in the same place for more than ten hours," she responded, "I was not in an optimal health situation. There has never been a parliament speaker who convened with NGOs more than I did."

Faiaq indicated that part of the criticism the parliament receives should be directed toward the government.

"I am on your side. I did not attend this meeting to defend the government. I am here to defend the parliament," she said.

The speaker asserted that the parliament will definitely extend its mandate beyond October 6 because the election will not be held as scheduled. 

The head of the NGO directorate in the Kurdistan region, Herdi Ahmed, lambasted the "non-compliance of most NGOs with the NGO law no.1 of the Kurdistan region."

"If you want to register in accordance with the Iraqi law without respecting the NGOs' first law, you cannot work here," he explained. 

"The directorate cannot shut down any organization. It only reports within 15 days. Afterwards, it is a call the judiciary makes," he continued. 

"Until the moment, we do not have a database for the NGOs in the Kurdistan region," he continued, "We have more than six thousand NGOs. I wish we have more than sixty thousand, but with projects to work on." 

Ahmed said that only 690 NGOs responded to the financial declaration request at the 110-day the deadline the directorate decided.