parliament vs cabinet

do you remember the Iraqi elections? and the purple fingers?
yes, that one.

Do you know what Iraqis voted for?
no, not president. No, not prime minister. It was the Iraqi parliament.

But despite the fact that the Iraqi parliament is the only elected entity in the government, we hardly hear from them, right? the only voices that we usually hear speaking on behalf of the eye-raqis are the PM, his assistants, and the Cabinet.

According to Article 45 of the Iraqi constitution, the Iraqi central government consists of three branches: "The federal powers shall consist of the legislative, the executive and the judicial powers". While the Judicial powers don't have any international authorities, the other two branches do.

The executive branch consists of the President of the Republic and the Council of Ministers (Cabinet). Political parties that are in complete control over the presidency and cabinet are in the minority of the The legislative branch that is led by the Council of Representatives (the parliament).

the Iraqi executive branch (the cabinet and presidency), dominated by Sunni, Shia, Kurdish, and Secular separatists, have been systematically bypassing the Iraqi legislative branch (the parliament) which is controlled by a majority of Iraqi nationalists from all different religious/sectarian/ethnic backgrounds. This unconstitutional bypassing was supported by the bush administration, helping the administration's separatist allies gain more political and military control over other Iraqis who represent the majority of the public. The Iraqi parliament is the only elected entity in the Iraqi government, and that's why, unlike the other selected entities, it is demanding to set a timetable to end the US-led occupation.

Last week witnessed a new unconstitutional trick. The Iraqi executive branch needs the legislative branch's approval of any new ministers nominated for the cabinet.

The separatist parties that completely control the cabinet and presidency are in the minority of the Iraqi parliament (they have less than 138 seats). They held a session in the parliament with only 110 separatist MPs (which is less than the quorum), and approved two new ministers to be added to the cabinet!

I received this notice from an Iraqi MP. It's signed by the head of the Iraqi parliament (the equivalent of a US speaker of the House). The letter states that the approval of the new two ministers is illegal because of a number of reasons that include:

* the voting was not listed on the session's agenda, which is against article 37 of the parliament's bylaw.

* the number of MPs who attended was 110 which makes the approval illegal because it's less than the legal quorum, and because the minimum number of MPs required to approve ministers is 138 according to the Iraqi constitution article 76/fourth

The Iraqi parliament demanded that the results of this unconstitutional approval should be deemed void and illegal by the executive branch.

Take a look at how the US mainstream media reports the event. It's a "success" with some "controversy"!

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL30465863

btw, the 2 MPs are far from being "independent". They are two well known separatist figures who are affiliated with Shia separatist parties.

[UPDATE: check out this piece I co-wrote today (nov. 9th) on alternet, about how in 2006, the cabinet unilaterally renewed the UN mandate, which pissed off the majority of MPs. They passed a law this May explicitly requiring the PM to come back to the legislature before renewing the mandate. The parliament wants the mandate to become a reason for ending the occupation instead of an excuse to prolong it.]