Baghdad: The Al-Bayina newspaper reported on 12 May 2009 that MP Abbas al-Bayati, had announced the formation of a sub-committee within the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) of the Council of Representatives to consider the possibility of further constitutional amendments during the current parliamentary session or whether they should be carried over to the next session.
Al-Bayati said in a statement quoted by the agency NINA: “The Committee has started its meetings and must be finished by the deadline which is the end of this month.”
He added: “The committee will submit its report to the Speaker, including the points agreed upon as well as those not agreed upon and indicating any areas that have remained unresolved. The report will then be presented to the Council of Representatives, which will determine whether constitutional amendments shall be made before the end of this parliamentary session or be carried over to the next parliamentary session.”
UPDATE: On 9 June, al-Sabaah, the government newspaper carried an opinion piece on the CRC process by Zuhair Kadhim Abbud and reported that Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi had written to the political blocs, members of the House of Representatives, religious authorities and a number of other local and international institutions to urge a positive attitude towards the report of the CRC.