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Kurdistan parliament to enter summer recess despite political stalemate
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region's parliament began its summer recess on Monday without holding regular sessions. The ongoing political deadlock has delayed the formation of a new government.
'Parliament's summer recess begins today, July 1, and will continue for two months,' Rupak Ahmad, a member of the legal committee during the previous parliamentary term, told Rudaw on Tuesday.
'Under normal circumstances, parliamentary sessions should resume on September 1 [and continue] until January 31 of the new year, and then they will go into winter recess again for two months,' she added.
Kurdistan Region's long-delayed parliamentary election was held in October but the political parties have yet to reach a final agreement to form a new cabinet. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said that the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) have agreed on a cabinet agenda, adding that the door remains open for other parties to join.
Amid the stalemate, lawmakers have convened only once in December without electing a speaker or deputies. The session ended without significant decisions and was adjourned indefinitely.
In May, Omar Gulpi, a lawmaker-elect from the opposition Kurdistan Justice Group (Komal) - who is yet to take the oath of office - filed a lawsuit with Iraq's Federal Supreme Court challenging the legitimacy of the Kurdish parliament. He argued that the legislature's failure to meet regularly invalidates the October election results and called for new elections and the return of benefits granted to lawmakers.
In April, the PAY Foundation for Education and Development, a Kurdistan-based NGO that monitors legislative performance, criticized Kurdish lawmakers for collecting salaries despite the parliament not sitting.
Soran Hussein contributed to this report.
