JURIST - Paper Chase: Iraq parliament adjourns for summer recess without passing key laws

[JURIST] The Iraqi Council of Representatives [official website, in Arabic] entered its summer recess Monday despite failing to pass constitutional amendments or legislation seen as essential to the stabilization of Iraq. A representative said that the council, which is scheduled to reconvene September 4, decided to recess because the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki [BBC profile] had not submitted any constitutional amendment or legislation proposals for the representatives to consider. A senior Iraqi government official indicated that the government is waiting for the results of a summit of Iraq's leading Sunni, Shi'a, and Kurdish leaders next week, adding that the parliament can be reconvened during the break.

The White House's Initial Benchmark Assessment Report [text; JURIST report] on political progress in Iraq, released earlier this month, said that the Iraqi government is not making satisfactory progress in passing laws in several areas, including the distribution of oil revenues and de-Baathificiation reform [JURIST news archive]. Efforts to pass legislation have been hampered by boycotts from Shi'a representatives loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] and the Iraqi Accord Front [BBC backgrounder; JURIST report], the largest Sunni parliamentary bloc. Reuters has more.

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