Kurdistan National Assembly – Iraq
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| Type | Unicameralism | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houses | House of Parliament | |||
| Speaker of Parliament | Adnan Mufti, PUK, since January 30, 2005 | |||
| Deputy Speaker of Parliament | Dr. Kamal Kirkuki, KPD, since January 30, 2005 | |||
| Members | 111 Seats in the Assembly |
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| Political groups (as of January 30, 2005 elections) |
Kurdistan Democratic Party Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Kurdistan Islamic Union Islamic Group of Kurdistan Turkman Party Kurdistan Communist Party Assyrian Democratic Movement Kurdistan Democratic Socialist Party Chaldean Cultural Society Chaldean Democratic Union Party Democratic Bet-Nahrain Party Farmers Movement Party Kurdistan Democratic National Union Kurdistan Toilers' Party |
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| Meeting place | KRG Parliament Building | |||
| Web site | Offical WebSite | |||
Iraqi Kurdistan National Assembly (Kurdish: Encumenî Nîştimanî Kurdistan, Arabic: المجلس الوطني لكوردستان lit: Al-Majlis Al-Watani Li Kurdistan) is the parliament of Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Kurdistan National Assembly
The Kurdistan National Assembly (KNA) is the Kurdistan Region’s democratically elected parliament. The KNA consists of one elected chamber.
Functions of the Kurdistan National Assembly
The three main functions of the KNA are: to examine proposals for new laws; to scrutinise government policy and administration; to debate the major issues of the day. Founding principles
The founding principles of the KNA are liberty, pluralism, accountability, openness and the representation of all peoples in the Kurdistan Region.
History of the Assembly
To protect civilians from attacks by Iraqi military forces following the 1991 Gulf War, the US, UK and France initiated a no-fly zone above the 36th line of latitude which cuts across Kurdistan. On the ground, a security zone was established by military forces from eleven countries. These no-fly and security zones strongly supported and encouraged refugees, including those who had left in the 1970s, to return to their homes.
Later in 1991, Saddam Hussein withdrew his forces and his administration, including the national flag, from parts of the Kurdistan Region. Compounding the hardship caused by an international UN embargo on Iraq, Saddam Hussein enforced an additional internal embargo on the region that stopped food and fuel supplies, disconnected electrical power and prevented the movement of people to other parts of the country.
Faced with the administrative vacuum and double embargo, the Kurdistan Front, an alliance of diverse political groups in the Kurdistan Region, decided to hold a general election. Their goal was to establish an administration to provide for essential public services and to meet the basic needs of the people. The population also expressed a strong desire to choose its representatives. The election, held on 19 May 1992, was the first free and fair parliamentary election in the history of Iraq. Voter turnout was very high and the elections were deemed to be free, fair, and democratic by international observers. After decades of dictatorship, the people in Kurdistan were able to vote for their representatives.
This regional election led to the formation of the first Kurdistan National Assembly and the establishment of the Kurdistan Regional Government. The leadership and the people of the Kurdistan Region decided to remain part of Iraq, and to adopt and abide by all national laws except for those that violated human and universal rights.
By 15 July 1992, the Kurdistan National Assembly had convened. Law No. 1, the first law passed by the assembly, established it as the Region’s legislature.
Elections
Elections for the Kurdistan National Assembly are held at least every four calendar years, (as stipulated in Article 8 of the Kurdistan Electoral Law).
The last Assembly election was on 30 January 2005, to coincide with Iraq’s national and provincial council elections.
Anyone aged 18 or over who is a citizen of the Kurdistan Region and is on the electoral register is eligible to vote in a direct, universal and secret ballot. Elections for the KNA are based on a closed party-list proportional representation system. Electors vote for a party’s list of candidates, rather for an individual candidate. After the election results are announced, each party is allocated seats in proportion to the number of votes it received, using the ranking order of candidates on its list. To ensure representation of all groups, if no party or person representing a minority (such as Turkmen, Chaldeans or Assyrians) gains a seat, one seat will be allocated to a party or person representing that minority. [1]
Structure of the Kurdistan National Assembly
There are 111 seats in the Assembly (as stipulated in Law No. 1 passed by the KNA in 1992).
Currently women hold 29 seats, making up 27% of the Assembly. The legal requirement is that at least 25% of the parliamentarians must be women (according to KNA Law No. 1, Article 22).
The KNA is lead by the Speaker, Mr Adnan Mufti, who is assisted in his duties by the Deputy Speaker, Dr Kamal Kirkuki.
Committees
The Kurdistan National Assembly has a number of committees which work on the following areas: Legal affairs Finance and economic affairs Home affairs Agriculture and irrigation General and higher education Health and social affairs Culture Religious endowments and affairs Transport, communication and municipalities Industry, energy and minerals Peshmerga Human rights Housing and reconstruction Women’s rights Kurdistan Constitution
Powers of the Kurdistan National Assembly
As provided in the federal constitution of Iraq [2], the KNA has considerable power to debate and legislate on policy in a wide range of areas: health services education and training policing and security the environment natural resources agriculture housing trade, industry and investment social services and social affairs transport and roads culture and tourism sport and leisure ancient monuments and historic buildings The KNA shares legislative power with the federal authorities in these areas, but priority is given to the KNA’s laws: customs electric energy and its distribution general planning internal water resources In addition, under Article 121 of the Iraqi federal constitution the KNA has the right to amend the application of Iraq-wide legislation that falls outside of the federal authorities’ exclusive powers.
Landmark legislation passed by the Kurdistan National Assembly
The KNA has passed several laws that have contributed to the Region’s social and economic progress. These include: passing a modern and open investment law; significantly increasing the prison sentence for those committing so-called honour killings, which were previously given minimum sentences. Other legislation and issues that the KNA is considering are: a petroleum law for the Kurdistan Region, which has been drafted and is being debated; a constitution for the Kurdistan Region; the KNA has established a committee to look into this and produce a draft; limits to or a ban on the practice of polygamy. Members of the Kurdistan National Assembly
In the current parliament elected on 30 January 2005, one member is independent and the others represent 14 different political parties, including Turkmen, Assyrian and Chaldean parties. Three members of the the KNA are Yezidis belonging to different political parties.
[1] The formula for the allocation of seats is based on a first calculation using a simple quota (Hare quota), and subsequent calculations using the largest remainders.
[2] These powers are granted in the federal constitution of Iraq, articles 114, 115, 117, 120, 121, 126 and 141.
Members of the Kurdistan National Assembly
Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq Regulation 14/2005 on the KNA elections
