ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq said on Saturday that dissolving the current parliament is not under consideration and that lawmakers will continue their duties until early January, as elections are due to be held in nearly a month. "The House of Representatives will continue its work and full powers until January 8, 2026, in accordance with the law,” Rebwar Hadi, head of the parliamentary legal committee, told the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA), noting that "the current parliamentary term began on January 8, 2022." Campaigning for Iraq's November elections commenced on Friday and will run until November 8. Posters and banners have already dominated streets across the country as nearly 7,800 candidates compete for 329 seats. More than 21 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots. A total of 31 alliances, 38 parties, 23 independent candidates, and 56 quota seat contenders are participating, according to data from Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC). Of the 7,768 total candidates, 5,520 are men and 2,248 are women. The 329-member parliament includes 320 general seats and nine reserved for minority groups. Hadi added that holding elections “does not mean the end of the work of the House of Representatives, except in one case according to Article 64 of the constitution (dissolution of the House of Representatives), and this is not currently on the table, and there is no time left to dissolve," the legislative body. Article 64 of the Iraqi Constitution stipulates that parliament may be dissolved before the end of its term either by an absolute majority vote from its members or upon a joint request by the prime minister and president. The article also bars dissolution while the prime minister is under questioning.
