Session (9) First Term / First Year

The Council of Representatives held on (15/2/2026) its ninth session of the first legislative term of the first legislative year of the sixth electoral cycle, chaired by Speaker Haibat Al-Halbousi, with (214) MPs in attendance. The session included:

_ The Council recited Surat Al-Fatiha in memory of the souls of Iraq's martyrs and the martyr Sayyid Daghir Al-Mousawi.

_ The Speaker directed that the head of the Martyrs Foundation and the head of the Retirement Authority be hosted at next Tuesday's session.

_ The Speaker called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon Iraq's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ms. Safia Al-Suhail, within 48 hours, refer her to investigation and inform the Council of its results, following parliamentary demands to hold her legally accountable.

_ Discussing the report of the committee of Parliamentary Order No. (18) of 2026 on following up and addressing the situation of graduates of medical and health professions, after its members held several meetings at the parliamentary Health Committee's headquarters to present all possible proposals and remedies to absorb the large numbers of graduates of medical and supporting health colleges and institutes.

_ The committee's report concluded that the number of unappointed graduates of medical and health cadres from the 2023 batch is approximately (21.2) thousand graduates, from the 2024 batch approximately 72 thousand graduates, and the 2025 batch approximately 100 thousand graduates, and estimated the number of students expected to graduate in the coming six years at 500 thousand graduates.

_ In the executive domain, the committee recommended absorbing graduates of medical and health professions according to graduation precedence; obligating the government to issue a Council of Ministers decision to address the file of the remaining graduates for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025 and the remaining graduates of Kurdistan Region universities from the governorates not incorporated into a region; absorbing the required numbers of graduates in the hospitals and health centers of other ministries and institutions (Interior, Defense, Oil, Justice, Education, Labor and Social Affairs, Industry, the Holy Shrines, Youth and Sports, Transport and Communications, the Popular Mobilization Authority); in addition to obligating the government to immediately halt the ongoing expansion in opening medical and health colleges, institutes and departments and to set admission numbers and grade averages according to the country's need, to guarantee their absorption in government institutions and the private sector.

_ The committee recommended halting the granting of (no-objection) permits to holders of higher degrees in state ministries, particularly medical cadres, for the purpose of teaching in private universities and colleges, and preventing private universities and colleges from engaging retirees in teaching, filling the shortage through compulsory secondment.

_ On the legislative side, the committee recommended amending the amended Medical and Health Professions Career Progression Law No. (6) of 2000; amending the Health Insurance Law No. (22) of 2020; in addition to amending the Federal Law on Establishing Private Health Institutions No. (25) of 2015; comprehensively reviewing and amending the laws of the syndicates of physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nursing and health professionals with regard to activating their oversight role by not allowing a licensed member to open more than one health institution; studying the (Parallel Financing) draft law to absorb medical and health professionals, including establishing a fund called (the Private Sector Employees' Salaries Fund); in addition to a recommendation that the government submit a draft law separating work in the public sector from the private sector and include it in the government program so that the Ministry of Health can proceed with its implementation and reissue the necessary instructions.

_ Voting on the recommendations of the committee of Parliamentary Order No. (18) of 2026 concerning graduates of medical and health professions. (To view the full recommendations, click the link below).

_ The MPs addressed the rights of citizens who own agricultural lands and the causes of the extortion of landowners seeking to establish their own projects and build residential homes, proposing the legislation of a law regulating the use and exploitation of such lands by their owners.

_ The interventions included demanding solutions to the saline water crisis in Basra Governorate and forming a committee of the governorate's MPs to examine the crisis, as it is worsening, and attaching a detailed report to the Council's Presidency thereon; in addition to the need to attend to the country's water file in general and to develop scientific and realistic solutions to address the drought problem, through forming a parliamentary committee dedicated to following up the file and presenting a real study; noting the importance of absorbing students with high grade averages and the need to find job opportunities for them.

_ The Speaker directed the formation of parliamentary committees to examine the two files of water desalination in Basra and the water scarcity causing drought in Iraq, and to submit their report within seven days.

_ The MPs' interventions stressed the importance of paying farmers' financial dues in Kirkuk and the other governorates, in addition to the agricultural loans file and the need for a Council decision recommending that the government not demand loan repayment until the 2026 budget is approved; finding a solution to the financial and economic situation in order to eliminate unemployment, which directly affects the people; in addition to demanding the legislation of the oil and gas law and finding appropriate solutions to the oil export crisis between the center and the Region, and forming a parliamentary committee to find a radical solution regarding the Region's employees' salaries; reviewing Nineveh Governorate's share of fuel and the importance of observing the principle of equality among governorates; demanding a review of the security file in Sinjar and allocating funds to compensate the displaced and rebuild its destroyed areas; calling for a new mechanism to regulate the use of internet websites and applications in order to protect minors; and demanding the amendment of the general traffic law with regard to reducing fines.

_ The interventions included demanding a review of the immunity granted to MPs through amending the Council of Representatives and its Formations Law, particularly the Federal Supreme Court's interpretation regarding immunity. In the same regard, Speaker Al-Halbousi expressed his support for amending the law, proposing that lifting an MP's immunity require a two-thirds quorum instead of an absolute majority.

The session was then adjourned until next Tuesday.