July 30, 2007
Iraqi Parliament Leaves For Vacation With Key Bills Untouched
In the time-honored American tradition of procrastination, U.S. lawmakers are using this final week before their monthlong August recess to cram in as much work as possible. Their Iraqi counterparts, on the other hand, aren't being so ambitious. Iraq's parliament adjourned today for its summer vacation, and lawmakers aren't planning to be back at work until early September. They leave behind a spate of U.S.-backed bills, including a crucial agreement on how to divvy up the nation's oil wealth.
The vacation is bad news for the Bush administration, which is under pressure to show that Iraqi leaders are stepping up to the plate politically while U.S. military forces try to enforce peace in the streets. Military commanders are supposed to deliver a report on Iraq's progress to the U.S. Congress in September. The semi-official deadline for that report -- Sept. 15 -- is just 11 days after Iraqi lawmakers are set to reconvene.
Explaining their decision to adjourn without voting on the remaining bills, Iraqi lawmakers pointed fingers at U.S.-backed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "There are Iraqi-Iraqi and Iraqi-American differences that have not been resolved," Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman told reporters. "The government throws the ball in our court, but we say that it is in the government's court and that of the politicians. They sent us nothing."
The legislative body was locked in a stalemate for much of July, when most of the Sunni Arab bloc protested Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani's demotion before he was reinstated to his leadership position on July 19.
The bills left untouched as Iraqi leaders depart for the month of August were designed to promote unity and help end the political and cultural frictions among Sunni Arabs, Shiites and Kurds that have stoked sectarian violence in the wake of the 2003 U.S. invasion. While the government's official recess may be disheartening to those working for peace, CNN reported Saturday that high-profile Iraqi leaders are planning to hold reconciliation talks soon.
In the meantime, this weekend did bring one glimmer of hope for unity in the war-torn country: the Iraqi soccer team's 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in the Asian Cup.
AP, Reuters and the Los Angeles Times have more details on the Iraqi parliament's recess.
