The Iraqi Parliament votes on the Food Security Bill

n Wednesday, the Iraqi parliament voted on the emergency support for the Emergency Law for Food Security. A parliamentary source said.

The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hakim Al-Zamili, considered the voting “a victory for the rights of the poor.”

“We will follow up on the mechanism of disbursing the funds.”

Earlier today, Parliament Speaker, Mohammad al-Halboosi, opened the session to vote on the food security bill in the presence of 273 deputies.

The Emergency Law for Food Security draft is expected to boost the country’s efforts to subsidize food and improve service provision, including in the power sector.

Since early this year, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s caretaker government has been pushing the bill to be passed into law due to delays in approving the 2022 budget.

However, political wrangling over the formation of a new government has hindered the process for about eight months since the elections.

The bill initially set aside 27 trillion Iraqi dinars ($18.5 billion), but that amount has since been made to 35 trillion dinars now.

The government initially submitted the food security bill but was rejected by the Federal Supreme Court last month.

The court ruled that the outgoing government had no authority to come up with bills to present to parliament or strike agreements that could influence Iraq’s future.

After the ruling, the parliament’s financial committee proceeded to submit the bill — one of three options mentioned by the constitution when it comes to proposing draft laws.