View source for Council of Representatives of Iraq

{{Short description|Legislature of Iraq}}
{{Infobox legislature
| name = Council of Representatives
| native_name = {{native name|ar|مجلس النواب|italics=off}}<br />{{native name|ku|ئه‌نجومه‌نی نوێنه‌ران|italics=off}}
| coa_pic = Logo of the Council of Representatives of Iraq.png
| coa_res = 
| house_type = [[Unicameral]] (''de facto'')<br>[[Bicameral]] (''de jure'')
| foundation = {{start date and age|df=y|2005|12|28}}
| preceded_by = [[Senate of Iraq]]<br />[[Chamber of Deputies of Iraq]]<br />National Assembly of Ba'athist Iraq
| leader1_type = [[Speaker of the Council of Representatives of Iraq|Speaker]]
| leader1 = [[Mahmoud al-Mashhadani]]
| party1 = ([[Independent politician|non-partisan]])
| election1 = 31 October 2024
| leader2_type = First Deputy Speaker
| leader2 = [[Muhsin Al-Mandalawi]]
| party2 = [[Independent politician|non-partisan]]
| election2 = 
| leader3_type = Second Deputy Speaker
| leader3 = [[Shakhawan Abdulla]]
| party3 = [[Kurdistan Democratic Party|KDP]]
| election3 = 
| members = 329
| structure1 = File:Iraq Parliament 2025.svg
| structure1_res = 250px
| political_groups1 = *{{Color box|{{party color|Reconstruction and Development Coalition}}|border=darkgray}} [[Reconstruction and Development Coalition|RDC]] (46)
*{{Color box|{{party color|Progress Party (Iraq)}}|border=darkgray}} [[Progress Party (Iraq)|Takadum]] (27)
*{{Color box|{{party color|Kurdistan Democratic Party}}|border=darkgray}} [[Kurdistan Democratic Party|KDP]] (26)
*{{Color box|#FF0000|border=darkgray}} [[State of Law Coalition|State of Law]] (29)
*{{Color box|#A8B11D|border=darkgray}} [[Al Sadiqoun Bloc|Al Sadiqoun]] (27)
*{{Color box|#0d9a3a|border=darkgray}} [[Badr Organisation]] (18)
*{{Color box|#00A550|border=darkgray}} [[Patriotic Union of Kurdistan|PUK]] (15)
*{{Color box|#3CA852|border=darkgray}} [[Azem Alliance]] (15)
*{{Color box|#81c8a9|border=darkgray}} [[Ishraqat Kanoon]] (8)
*{{Color box|#ad2384|border=darkgray}} [[Tasmim Alliance]] (6)
*{{Color box|#7F0284|border=darkgray}} [[National Stance Movement|Halwest]] (5)
*{{Color box|#673301|border=darkgray}} [[Kurdistan Islamic Union|KIU]] (4)
*{{Color box|#ff681f|border=darkgray}} [[New Generation Movement|NGM]] (3)
*{{Color box|#ff681f|border=darkgray}} [[Kurdistan Justice Group|KJG]] (1)
*{{Color box|#d0d0d0|border=darkgray}} [[List of political parties in Iraq|Others]] (99)
| voting_system1 = [[Proportional representation]] with [[Sainte-Laguë method|Modified Sainte-Laguë method]] {{small|(from 2025)}}
| last_election1 = [[2025 Iraqi parliamentary election|11 November 2025]]
| next_election1 = By 2029
| session_room = Baghdad Convention Center inside.jpg
| session_res = 250px
| meeting_place = Baghdad Convention Center<br/>[[Green Zone]]<br />[[Baghdad]]<br />[[Iraq]]
| website = {{URL|https://iq.parliament.iq/|iq.parliament.iq}}
| constitution = [[Constitution of Iraq]] (2005), Section II, Chapter I
| coa_caption = Seal of the Council of Representatives of Iraq
| background_color = #014F7D
| redistricting = [[Independent High Electoral Commission]]
| term_length = 4 years
}}
{{Politics of Iraq}}

The '''Council of Representatives'''{{efn|{{langx|ar|مجلس النواب|Majlis an-Nuwwāb al-ʿIrāqiyy}}; {{langx|ku|ئه‌نجومه‌نی نوێنه‌ران}}, ''Encûmena Nûnerên Iraqê'', usually referred to simply as the '''Parliament''' ({{langx|ar|البرلمان}})}} is the ''[[de facto]]'' [[unicameral legislature]] of [[Iraq]]. According to the [[Constitution of Iraq]], it is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the country. The [[Federation Council (Iraq)|Federation Council]] is the unconvened ''[[de jure]]'' upper house. 

As of 2020, the Council of Representatives comprises 329 seats and meets in [[Baghdad]] inside the [[Green Zone]].<ref>{{cite web |last= |first= |title=Business & Financial News, U.S & International Breaking News {{!}} Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526142113/https://www.reuters.com/ |archive-date=26 May 2019 |access-date=2018-03-12 |website=U.S. |language=en}}<!-- auto-translated from Arabic by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

==Electoral system==
For the [[2025 Iraqi parliamentary election|2025 parliamentary elections]], members are elected by [[proportional representation]], with seats allocated using the modified Webster/Sainte-Laguë method with a divisor of 1.7, in 18 constituencies corresponding to Iraq's governorates. 83 seats are reserved for women, 9 seats are reserved for minorities (five for [[Christianity in Iraq|Christians]] and one each for [[Yazidis]], [[Shabaks]], [[Mandaeans]] and [[Feyli Kurds]]).

== History ==

=== The monarchy ===
An elected Iraqi parliament first formed following the establishment of a [[Mandatory Iraq|constitutional monarchy]] in 1925. The 1925 constitution called for a bicameral parliament whose lower house, the [[Chamber of Deputies of Iraq]] or Council of Representatives (''Majlis an-Nuwwab'') would be elected based on [[universal manhood suffrage]]. The upper house, the [[Senate of Iraq]] (''Majlis al-A`yan'') was appointed by the king. Sixteen elections took place between 1925 and the coup of 1958.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=TAI365892|title=Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News – Reuters.com|work=reuters.com|access-date=12 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061111220234/http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=TAI365892|archive-date=11 November 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On January 17, 1953 [[1953 Iraqi parliamentary election|elections for the Chamber of Deputies]] (also known as the National Assembly) took place. Following controversy over the implementation of the so-called [[Baghdad Pact]], Prime Minister [[Nuri as-Said|Nuri Pasha as-Said]] called for [[June 1954 Iraqi parliamentary election|elections the following year]], in early 1954. As-Said dissolved the assembly shortly thereafter and began to [[rule by decree]], but opposition forced him to hold a third election within three years. The [[September 1954 Iraqi parliamentary election|second 1954 election]] was very corrupt, with as-Said's political enemies banned from running, and widespread voter coercion.{{cn|reason=No ref, not mentioned in linked article|date=October 2025}} The assembly was suspended yet again, and in 1958 a [[14 July Revolution|military coup]] deposed as-Said and the monarchy, and abolished the parliament.

=== Under Saddam Hussein ===
The 1970 constitution created a republic with an elected National Assembly (''al-Majlis al-Watani''). However, elections for the Assembly did not take place until June 1980, under Iraq's new military president, [[Saddam Hussein]]. Several more elections took place between 1989 and 2003. Elections for its members were not considered free and fair by the international community. Only members of Hussein's own [[Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction)|Baath Party]] were ever elected.

=== The transitional period ===
In 2003, [[Saddam Hussein]] was forcibly removed from power by the [[United States of America]], the [[United Kingdom]] and their allies during the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|Iraq War]]. In March 2003 a [[Iraqi Governing Council|governing council]] set up by the [[Coalition Provisional Authority]] signed an [[Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period|interim constitution]] which called for the election of a transitional National Assembly after than the end of January 2005. This Assembly would draft a permanent [[constitution]] which would then be submitted to approval by the Iraqi people in a general [[referendum]].

Elections for this transitional National Assembly (''al-Jam`iyya al-Wataniyya'') took place on January 30, 2005. The [[United Iraqi Alliance]] Party won the majority of seats with 48% of the popular vote resulting in 140 seats. Eighty-five members of the assembly were women.

Talks between the UIA and other parties to form a [[coalition government]] began soon after the election. The assembly had its first meeting on March 16, 2005. After weeks of negotiations between the dominant political parties, on April 4, 2005, [[Sunni]] Arab [[Hajim al-Hassani]] was chosen as [[speaker (politics)|speaker]]; [[Shiite]] [[Hussain Shahristani]] and [[Kurd]] [[Aref Taifour]] were elected as his top deputies.  The Assembly elected [[Jalal Talabani]] to head the [[Presidency Council of Iraq|Presidency Council]] on April 6, and approved the selection of [[Ibrahim al-Jaafari]] and his cabinet on April 28.

== Constitution of 2005 and elections ==
Under the permanent constitution approved on October 15, 2005, legislative authority is vested in two bodies, the Council of Representatives and the Federation Council, while the latter is to be established by the former.

=== Council of Representatives ===
The '''Council of Representatives''' consists of 325 members elected for four years, with two sessions in each annual term. The Council passes federal laws, oversees the executive, ratifies treaties, and approves nominations of specified officials. It elects the [[President of Iraq|president]] of the republic, who selects a [[Prime Minister of Iraq|prime minister]] from the majority coalition in the Council. (During an initial period, a three-member Presidential Council elected by the Council of Representatives will carry out the duties of the president of the republic.)

[[December 2005 Iraqi legislative election|Elections were held on December 15, 2005]] for the Council of Representatives. The Council first met on March 16, 2006, exactly one year after the first meeting of the transitional assembly.

=== Federation Council ===
{{Main|Federation Council (Iraq)}}
The '''Federation Council''' (or Council of Federation/Union)<ref name="s760">{{cite web | title=FAOLEX | website=FAOHome | url=https://www.fao.org/faolex/results/details/en/c/LEX-FAOC128541/ | access-date=2024-07-26}}</ref> will consist of representatives from Iraq's regions and governorates. Its precise composition and responsibilities are not defined in the constitution and will be determined by the Council of Representatives. As of 2021, no concrete steps have been made towards establishing the proposed upper house.
[[File:ئەندامانی ئەنجومەنی نوێنەران (پەرلەمان)ی عیراق 1928.jpg|thumb|Iraqi parliament members in 1928.]]

=== 2007 Iraqi Parliament bombing ===
On, April 12, 2007, [[Mohammed Awad (politician)|Mohammed Awad]], a political party member of the [[Iraqi National Dialogue Council]], was killed at the convention centre canteen of the parliament building, and 22 were wounded, in the [[2007 Iraqi Parliament Bombing]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1645020.ece|archive-url=https://archive.today/20110523062828/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1645020.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 23, 2011|title=Login|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=12 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6550923.stm|title=BBC NEWS – Middle East – Iraq MPs condemn parliament blast|work=bbc.co.uk|date=13 April 2007 |access-date=12 August 2015}}</ref>

=== 2007 issues ===
{{Update|date=November 2010}}
A group of Sunni lawmakers boycotted parliament in a June 2007 protest of the removal of the speaker, [[Mahmoud al-Mashhadani]], after a series of controversial actions.  They returned in July after the speaker was re-instated with the understanding that he would quietly resign after a few sessions.  A group of Shiite members also returned in July after a boycott which gained them an investigation into the bombing of a Shiite mosque, along with reconstruction and improved security.  The parliament was under pressure from the United States to pass legislation dealing with members of the Baath party, distribution of oil revenues, regional autonomy, and constitutional reform, by September 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12103624|title=Iraqi Parliament Pulls Together as Break Looms|date=19 July 2007|work=NPR.org|access-date=12 August 2015}}</ref>

=== 2009 electoral reform ===
The Iraqi cabinet approved a draft elections law in September 2009. However, it took two months and ten delays for the law to pass in the Council of Representatives. The main areas of dispute concerned the "open list" electoral system and the voters roll in [[Kirkuk Governorate]], which Arab and Turkmen parties alleged had been manipulated by the [[Kurdistan Regional Government]] of Iraq.<ref name="LawPassed">{{citation |title=Obama hails Iraq's approval of 2010 election law |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/world/obama-hails-iraqi-election-law/ |publisher=[[Agence France Presse]] |date=9 November 2009}}</ref>

[[UNAMI]] advised the electoral system was changed to allow people to vote for individuals as well as party lists under the [[open list]] form of [[proportional representation]]. The last national elections had used a [[closed list]] system, but the [[Iraqi governorate elections of 2009]] had used open lists.<ref>{{citation |title=Iraq cabinet approves draft elections law |publisher=Reuters |date=12 September 2009 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSLC318417 |first=Khalid |last=al-Ansary}}</ref> In the end, all parties except for the [[Kurdistani Alliance]] agreed to support open lists which was adopted.<ref name="LawPassed" /> The law increased the size of the Council from 275 to 325 members—equal to one seat per 100,000 citizens, as specified in the [[Constitution of Iraq]].<ref name="NewChal">{{cite web |last=Najm |first=Hayder |title=Election law faces new challenges |publisher=Niqash |date=13 November 2009 |url=http://niqash.org/content.php?contentTypeID=75&id=2570&lang=0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100309002828/http://niqash.org/content.php?contentTypeID=75&id=2570&lang=0 |archive-date=9 March 2010 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

=== 2016 protests ===
The parliament was stormed by protesters in April 2016; the protestors also attacked buildings within the parliamentary complex.<ref name=BBCApr3016>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36176910|title=Shia protesters storm Iraq parliament|date=30 April 2016|work=BBC News Online|access-date=30 April 2016}}</ref>

=== 2018 electoral reform ===
The Council of Representatives voted on 11 February 2018, to add an extra seat for minorities, in the [[Wasit Governorate]] for [[Feyli Kurds]], making the total number of parliamentarians equal to 329 prior to the [[2018 Iraqi parliamentary election|2018 parliamentary elections]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://alshahidwitness.com/seat-parliament-reserved-feyli-kurds-iraq/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214061605/https://alshahidwitness.com/seat-parliament-reserved-feyli-kurds-iraq/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=February 14, 2019|title=Seat in Parliament reserved for Feyli Kurds in Iraq|date=23 Jan 2018|work=Al Shahid}}</ref>

=== 2019 electoral reform ===
As a result of the ongoing [[2019 Iraqi protests]], the Council of Representatives approved a new law on 24 December 2019 which aims to make it easier for independent politicians to win a seat in the Council of Representatives. The new law will see each of Iraq's governorates split into several electoral districts, with one legislator being elected per 100,000 people, thus replacing its [[proportional representation]] system for a [[Single non-transferable vote|district-based system]]. The new law will also prevent parties from running on unified lists.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraqs-parliament-approves-new-election-law-amid-protests/2019/12/24/ad284962-2671-11ea-9cc9-e19cfbc87e51_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225073159/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraqs-parliament-approves-new-election-law-amid-protests/2019/12/24/ad284962-2671-11ea-9cc9-e19cfbc87e51_story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 December 2019|title=Iraq's parliament approves new election law amid protests|last=Abdul-Zahra|first=Qassim|date=24 December 2019|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>

=== 2021 elections ===
{{Main|2021–2022 Iraqi political crisis}}

Since the [[2021 Iraqi parliamentary election|parliamentary election in October 2021]], there has been a political crisis in [[Iraq]], with members of the Council of Representatives of Iraq being unable to form a stable coalition government, or elect a new [[President of Iraq|President]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2022-06-14 |title=Iraqi PM stresses inciting violence and chaos unacceptable |language=en-US |website=Iraqi News |url=https://www.iraqinews.com/iraq/iraqi-pm-stresses-inciting-violence-and-chaos-unacceptable/ |url-status=live |access-date=2022-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615171140/https://www.iraqinews.com/iraq/iraqi-pm-stresses-inciting-violence-and-chaos-unacceptable/ |archive-date=15 June 2022}}</ref> For 10 months, the national political system was in a political deadlock.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iraqi MPs from Muqtada al-Sadr's bloc resign |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/12/iraqi-mps-from-firebrand-cleric-moqtada-sadrs-bloc-resign |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220613233829/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/12/iraqi-mps-from-firebrand-cleric-moqtada-sadrs-bloc-resign |archive-date=13 June 2022 |access-date=2022-06-13 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref> On 3 August 2022, [[Muqtada al-Sadr]] called for [[Next Iraqi parliamentary election|snap elections]].<ref>{{Cite web |title='Dissolve the parliament': Influential Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr calls for fresh elections in Iraq |url=https://www.wionews.com/world/dissolve-the-parliament-influential-shiite-leader-moqtada-sadr-calls-for-fresh-elections-in-iraq-503371 |access-date=2022-08-04 |website=WION |date=3 August 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

'''<big>2025 elections</big>'''

{{Main|2025 Iraqi parliamentary election}}

== See also ==
* [[Politics of Iraq]]
*[[Elections in Iraq]]
* [[List of legislatures by country]]
{{-}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website}} {{in lang|ar|ckb|en}}
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iraq/ CIA Fact Book – Iraq]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070818193158/http://www.iraqigovernment.org/index-EN.htm The Iraqi Transitional Government]}}
* [https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/68287.pdf Katzman, Kenneth. "Iraq: Elections, Government, and Consistution." CRS Report for Congress: January 15, 2006.]

{{Iraq topics}}
{{Asia topic|Parliament of}}
{{National unicameral legislatures}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Council Of Representatives Of Iraq}}
[[Category:Council of Representatives of Iraq| ]]
[[Category:Iraqi parliaments]]
[[Category:Parliaments by country|Iraq]]
[[Category:Unicameral legislatures|Iraq]]
[[Category:2005 establishments in Iraq]]