Baghdad: Legal expert, Advisor Salem Hawas, affirmed that the “Parliament is obligated to establish a Federal Council, as stipulated in Article 65 of the Constitution, to include representatives from the regions and governorates not organized into a region.”

According to National Iraqi News Agency, Hawas stated in a press release, “The federal legislative authority consists of the Parliament and the Federal Council, as stipulated in Article 48 of the Constitution. This important duality is similar to the duality of the executive authority, as outlined in Article 66 of the Constitution, which states that the executive authority consists of the President of the Republic and the Council of Ministers.”

He explained, “All governments and the five parliamentary sessions have failed to allocate a second building adjacent to the parliament building, to be called the ‘Federal Council,’ and to pass a law to that effect. This is one of dozens of constitutional violations and disregarded provisions and regulations that form the basis of legislative work.”

Hawas pointed out, “The reason for this obstruction is the monopolization of legislation by parliaments, parties, and blocs, without the participation of representatives from the regions and governorates, whose voices should be heard and whose legal, constitutional, and legitimate rights should be established according to the constitutional text.”