Iraq parliament falling into disarray

Iraq's parliament has been making headlines — for all the wrong reasons.

Voted into office as a symbol of a new, democratic Iraq, the 275-seat legislature is increasingly being viewed as irrelevant and ineffective by many Iraqis for its inability to tackle sectarian violence, soaring crime and a failing economy.

The disarray threatens passage of several crucial pieces of U.S.-backed legislation, including a bill for the fair distribution of oil revenues and another to promote national reconciliation — both of which are seen as key to ending sectarian violence in the country.

Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni Arab Islamist and a former physician jailed by former dictator Saddam Hussein for his political activity, has taken much of the heat for what many see as his outrageous behavior.

Last week, al-Mashhadani slapped a fellow Sunni lawmaker in the face and called him "scum" at the end of a raucous session. The sitting had already been cut short when many lawmakers left the chamber to protest the speaker's claim that three-quarters of them were responsible for the sectarian killings and cleansing.

Some lawmakers accuse him of running the chamber like a Baghdad coffee shop, where patrons sip tea and coffee through seemingly endless and pointless chatter.

Last year, the 59-year-old speaker survived a campaign by Shiite and Kurdish politicians to remove him after he said Iraqis who killed American troops should be celebrated as heroes. He also issued a scathing attack against the defense minister, fellow Sunni Arab Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi, claiming he didn't know what was going on in the country.

"He talks too much," said Shiite lawmaker Reda Jawad Taqi.

The speaker's behavior appears increasingly erratic, but he has company in actions that disturb the public. Some lawmakers have tried to push through legislation granting them financial and other perks. Neither engenders confidence among Iraq's people.

Sessions frequently descend in to fiery but pointless shouting matches and name-calling.

"I get frustrated when I watch the speaker and his parliament on television," said Youssef al-Saadi, a 40-year-old Shiite employee at Baghdad's Mustansiriyah University. "They don't really care about our suffering. They only want to make money."

Widad al-Qaralousi, a 45-year-old Baghdad school principal, also spoke of disappointment.

"We were thrilled to be able to elect a parliament," she said. "But now, I am ashamed that this parliament represents me."

Perhaps most damaging are persistent suspicions that some Sunni Arab lawmakers are linked to insurgents fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces. There also are charges that some Shiite legislators are associated with militiamen blamed for much of the sectarian violence that has raged since the February 2006 bombing of a major Shiite shrine in the Sunni city of Samarra.

Detractors also blame parliament's perceived ineffectiveness in part on the sectarian formula used to divvy up top jobs from the president to cabinet ministers, arguing that party loyalties prevent lawmakers from assuming their role as overseers or a check on the government.

Reports that the chamber plans a two-month summer break have left some U.S. officials seething, asking why Iraqi lawmakers should close up shop while American troops are still fighting.

What's more, many of Iraq's heavyweight politicians rarely attend sessions. The list is long and includes former president Ghazi al-Yawer, former Shiite prime ministers Ayad Allawi and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, and senior Sunni statesman Adnan Pachachi.

"Everyone knows that parliament, like the Cabinet, is not doing great," said independent Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman. "It's weak and its members are isolated from the people."

Any attempt to replace al-Mashhadani, however, could turn into a major political crisis at a time when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's embattled government is struggling with the much more pressing issue of security.

"The speaker, the prime minister and the president are part of one package," said Sunni Arab lawmaker Omar Abdul-Sattar. The nation's top three jobs are divvied up among parliament's three major blocs.

"If they want to replace brother al-Mashhadani, they must replace the other two as well," he said.

Al-Mashhadani, like Abdul-Sattar, belongs to the Iraqi Accordance Front, parliament's largest Sunni Arab bloc with 44 seats. Al-Maliki belongs to the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, parliament's largest bloc with 115 seats. President Jalal Talabani is a member of the Kurdish bloc with 58 seats.

Even the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq casts a cloud on the parliament, whose three weekly sessions are held inside the U.S.-protected Green Zone, a large swath of land on the west bank of the Tigris. It also houses the Iraqi government and the U.S. and British embassies.

Last week, lawmakers voted to summon al-Maliki and his defense and interior ministers to testify on the security situation. Several lawmakers, however, said al-Maliki and his ministers were likely to deflect any criticism by claiming that security was in the hands of the Americans, not the government.

In jest, a lawmaker was heard suggesting that Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, should be summoned to testify before parliament, too.