In a bid to revitalize its legislative and oversight functions, Iraq’s Council of Representatives is considering a plan to enforce a schedule of up to eight sessions per month. This move follows years of irregular parliamentary activity hampered by political gridlock.

The proposal was discussed in a meeting chaired by Speaker Haibat Al-Halbousi, alongside First Deputy Speaker Adnan Fayhan and Second Deputy Speaker Farhad Amin Al-Atroshi, according to a statement from the speaker’s office.

Parliament’s own internal regulations mandate that lawmakers convene for eight sessions monthly, totaling 32 sessions in each four-month legislative term. However, this requirement has consistently gone unmet in practice. Sittings have frequently been disrupted by political disputes, failures to achieve a quorum, and prolonged delays in forming key committees.

Data from Shafaq News highlights the scale of the problem: during the fifth parliamentary term from 2022 to 2025, the assembly held only 132 of the 256 sessions required by its rules—roughly half. This chronic absenteeism has contributed to a backlog of stalled legislation and weakened oversight of the executive branch.

The renewed push for procedural discipline comes after the inaugural session of the newly elected sixth parliament on December 29, 2025. That session formally launched the current legislative cycle and set in motion constitutional deadlines to elect a new President of the Republic and confirm a Prime Minister.