Committees' recent work and meetings - 1 March to 10 April 2023
A summary of Kurdistan Parliament committees' recent work and meetings, from 1 March to 10 April 2023:
Finance and Economic Affairs Committee
1 March 2023 – After participating in World Bank workshops in Amman, Jordan on strategic financial plans and budgets, the committee visited Jordan’s Parliament and met with the chair and members of its Finance Committee.
They discussed the Jordanian budget law approved by H.M. the King of Jordan, the details and content of the law and the way the budget law was passed.
The committee chair Ziyad Jabbar congratulated the Jordanian Parliament’s Finance Committee and the Jordanian Parliament on the passage of the 2023 budget law, which is more than eleven billion Jordanian dinars or around 16 billion US dollars.
The same day, the committee met with the Speaker of the Jordanian Parliament Ahmed al-Safadi and discussed who to build on the good relations between their respective legislatures.
They agreed that strengthening parliamentary, commercial and economic ties is in their mutual interest. They also highlighted Jordan's stabilizing role in the region.
27 March 2023 - The committee discussed the questions from the NGOs the High Council for the Coalition on Transparency and Accountability, and the High Commission for Sustainable Development, about the KRG’s failure to send the 2023 budget bill to Parliament. The committee decided to again follow up with the KRG Council of Ministers through Parliament’s Presidency, about the 2023 budget bill as well as last year’s income and expenditure statements.
The committee replied to correspondence and raised some of it with relevant authorities for further work.
Parliament Affairs and Complaints Committee
7 March 2023 - The committee decided to submit a proposal to Parliament’s Presidency that any Parliament delegation that go on official visits abroad should first take a protocol and etiquette course to optimally prepare for their meetings.
The MPs also discussed the preparations for their visits to Baghdad and Sweden.
The committee exchanged views on the negative report by the NGO Pay Institute on this current term of Parliament, and they decided to write to the Presidency of Parliament about the report.
The committee formally requested the findings and decisions of the legislative and interior committees’ investigation into the issue of the status of MPs’ security guards when the current Parliament term ends.
10 April 2023 – The committee discussed what will happen to Parliament’s security guards once the current Parliament term ends. They decided to ask Parliament’s Presidency to raise the matter of the guards’ future employment status with the relevant authorities.
The committee also decided to ask Parliament’s Presidency for Parliament’s annual financial report.
The committee reviewed complaints and requests that they had raised previously and which have not yet been answered.
Relations and Kurdish Diaspora Committee
2 March 2023 - The committee, led by the chair Dr. Rebwar Babkayi, welcomed Mr. Arakawa Mikihiro, Japan’s Consul General in Kurdistan Region.
They discussed the latest political and economic developments in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, Kurdistan Region-Baghdad relations and the disagreements over the next Parliament elections.
The chair asked that Japan play a more important role in helping to develop Kurdistan Region’s economy, through investment and construction.
Strengthening relations between the Kurdistan Region and Japan was another topic, especially increasing parliamentary ties.
14 March 2023 – The committee welcomed a delegation from the French National Federation of Veterans Living Overseas (FACS), led by the Federation’s Secretary Philippe Delarbre, with members Senator Louis Duvernois and General Thenodor Arfara.
Committee chair Dr. Rebwar Babkayi said that the French forces and the Peshmerga have in common great courage and patriotism, and he pointed to the crucial role of the Peshmerga forces in the fight against ISIS.
He referred to the close historic friendship between the people of France and Kurdistan and thanked the French people and Government for their steadfast support.
The veterans federation invited the committee to attend a veterans commemoration event in France on 17 May.
27 March 2023 - The committee discussed establishing relations and coordination with the Iraqi Parliament’s Displacement and Migration Committee, and with the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration, to increase cooperation on the problems facing migrants from Kurdistan Region.
The MPs also discussed establishing ties with the Iraqi Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee and decided to visit the Iraqi legislature.
Interior, Security and Local Councils Committee
29 March 2023 – The committee prepared their report on their recent visit to the UK, where they met British MPs and lords and municipal and local council authorities, and decided to submit the report to Parliament’s Presidency.
Peshmerga Committee
15 March 2023 - The committee discussed their plans for the new spring legislative session, including ongoing monitoring of the problems facing the Peshmerga forces. They decided to meet with the KRG Peshmerga and finance ministries to again raise the issue of Peshmerga’s financial entitlements and allowances, which are stipulated by law but have not yet been implemented.
The committee replied to correspondence.
29 March 2023 – The committee met with Zerevani (gendarmerie) senior officers to look into their responsibilities, rights and reorganization. The committee and the Zerevani agreed to work together to address the problems.
The Zerevani officials were Lieutenant Hersh Agha, Lieutenant Ghazi Babkaei, Brigadier General Saywan Ahmad, Brigadier General Kamiran Hawrami, Brigadier Ali Kalari and Colonel Abdulazim.
Reconstruction and Investment Committee
29 March 2023 – The committee decided to look further into high utility and electricity charges in apartment and villa housing projects.
The committee replied to correspondence and raised some of it with the relevant authorities for follow-up.
Integrity Committee
3 April 2023 - The committee decided to request a meeting with the Kurdistan Region Integrity Commission to continue monitoring the commission’s work.
The committee raised correspondence with the relevant authorities for follow-up.
Energy and Natural Resources, Commerce and Industry Committee
7 March 2023 - The committee discussed the problems and complaints about pre-paid electricity systems, petrol prices, food ration distribution and the problems facing factories.
The committee decided to visit the ministries of electricity, natural resources and trade and industry to look further into these issues.
13 March 2023 – The committee met with the KRG Minister of Trade and Industry Kamal Muslim and ministry director generals.
The committee asked 17 questions, covering the law on protecting domestic products, factory problems and red tape on importing raw materials, trade laws and market monitoring, distribution of food rations and discussions between Baghdad and the KRG on the latter.
Trade Minister Kamal Muslim said, “We are constantly coordinating with all relevant ministries to solve the problems. We are in the process of reaching an agreement with Baghdad and we have come to a good understanding.".
Ali Osman, Deputy Minister for Industrial Affairs, explained the problems with factories, protection of domestic goods, industrial development and said a modern industrial zone is needed to overcome many of the problems.
Sarwar Kamal Hawari, Deputy Minister for Commercial Affairs, answered questions on commerce.
Endowments and Religious Affairs Committee
4 April 2023 – The committee conveyed their best wishes for Akitu, the Babylonian-Assyrian New Year:
We convey our best wishes to our Chaldean, Syriac and Assyrian brothers and sisters in the Kurdistan Region for a very happy Akitu New Year. We hope that Kurdistan will remain a fine example of peaceful coexistence between different religious and ethnic communities, with freedom of religion, belief and worship.
Martyrs, Genocide and Political Prisoners Committee
16 March 2023 – The committee issued the following statement on the 35th anniversary of the chemical bombing of Halabja:
Thirty-five years ago on March 16th, 1988, the Ba'ath dictatorship, desperate to break the people’s will and their struggle for their rights, bombarded the civilian population of Halabja with chemical weapons, using the most dangerous weapons of mass destruction as part of their plan to perpetrate genocide against our people. More than 5,000 people were killed and many were injured and displaced.
This crime was perpetrated while the international community looked on. But it soon shook humanity’s conscience, becoming a symbol of the danger of chemical weapons and the oppressed identity of the Kurds.
Today, as we commemorate this tragedy, we welcome the Iraqi Government’s decision to recognize Halabja as the 19th governorate of Iraq, after the KRG and the Kurdistan Parliament had already designated Halabja as a governorate.
Helping to alleviate the suffering of the survivors and families through compensation for material and moral damages is also essential.
We call on the Iraqi Government and Parliament, in the light of the provisions of the Iraqi Constitution, to allocate part of this year's budget for compensation to the victims and for Halabja’s reconstruction.
We also call on the KRG to continue to pay attention to the city and do more to solve its problems.
We bow our heads to the victims of the chemical attack on Halabja, and all the martyrs of Kurdistan.
27 March 2023 – The committee prepared their report on the Legislative Proposal on Burial Ceremonies for Martyrs, to submit to Parliament’s Presidency.
The MPs met with Abdulrahman Karim Darwish, the organizer of a conference on the Genocide of the Fayli Kurds, to exchange views and suggestions about the conference participants and experts.
5 April 2023 – The committee issued this statement on the 43rd anniversary of the Genocide of the Fayli Kurds:
Forty-three years ago, Ba'ath regime leaders began to commit a serious of crimes of genocide against the Kurdish people, among them the genocide of the Fayli Kurds. Through mass disappearances, deportations, forced exile and expropriation of their businesses, properties and lands, the Ba’ath regime violated the most basic human rights, religious and humanitarian principles and international treaties to which Iraq is a party.
The Faylis’ only crime was that they were Kurds. With the subsequent genocide of the Barzanis, the Anfal campaign in Garmyan and other parts of Kurdistan, and chemical attacks on Halabja and other areas, it became clear that the Ba'ath regime wanted to eliminate the Kurdish people by any means.
On the anniversary of this crime, we honour the victims and all the martyrs of Kurdistan’s liberation movement. We call on the Government of Iraq to fulfill its legal responsibility as the state, to make every effort to compensate the victims of this crime and all the crimes of genocide against the Kurds perpetrated by the Ba'ath regime, and to change the legacy of the victims' families.
Social Affairs and Human Rights Committee
13 March 2023 - The committee met to review their meetings in Sweden which they believed were very useful, and prepared their report on their visit. They decided to meet with the KRG Representative in Sweden Shorsh Kadir to thank him for his help in arranging the meetings.
The committee discussed a request to review articles 76 and 77 of Law No. 5 of 2022, which is the Amendment to Implementation of the Law on Welfare of Juveniles (Iraqi Law No. 76 of 1983).
They also discussed the Legislative Proposal on Prevention of Torture and Ill-treatment, which had its first reading at the sitting of 1 March 2023.
The committee replied to correspondence and raised some of it with Parliament’s Presidency for further work.
27 March 2023 - The committee continued to prepare their report on their meetings in Sweden.
The MPs continued to discuss the Legislative Proposal on Prevention of Torture and Ill-treatment, which had its first reading at the sitting of 1 March 2023.
The committee replied to correspondence and raised some of it with Parliament’s Presidency for further work.
11 April 2023 – The committee discussed the increase in the number of persons diagnosed with autism in Kurdistan Region, according to reports by NGOs. The committee decided to look into it further.
The MPs decided to form two subcommittees to prepare reports on: the proposal of the Judicial Council to amend articles 76 and 77 of Law No. 5 of 2022, which is the Amendment to Implementation of the Law on Welfare of Juveniles (Iraqi Law No. 76 of 1983); and the Legislative Proposal on Prevention of Torture and Ill-treatment, which had its first reading at the sitting of 1 March 2023.
The committee replied to correspondence and sent some of it to Parliament’s Presidency for further work.
Health, Environment and Consumer Rights Committee
7 March 2023 – The committee discussed proposals for a law on health sector syndicates as well as problems in the health sector in general, and decided to ask the KRG Minister of Health for a meeting soon.
The medicines subcommittee reported the findings of their visit to the medicines control quality authorities.
The committee discussed the complaints and requests received in correspondence from the public and decided to investigate them further.
Municipalities, Communication, Travel and Tourism Committee
27 March 2023 – The committee discussed their report on proposed amendments to Law No. 3 of 2019, the Law on Ownership of Illegally Taken or Used Land in Kurdistan Region’s Municipalities.
Another topic was the request by some hotels and tourist attractions to review the penalties imposed for expiry of their licences. The committee said that it will try to find a way to resolve the complaints about that provision.
The committee replied to correspondence and raised some of it with the relevant authorities.