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During four years, the Fifth Term of the Iraqi Parliament has worked for only 294 hours and 42 minutes. In every session, out of the total 329 MPs, 156 MPs were absent, and 76 MPs never spoke even once.

As Iraq and the Kurdistan Region prepare for the Sixth Parliamentary Election, new data reveal that the Fifth Term has significantly declined compared to the previous term in areas such as (number of sessions, legislation output, minister questioning, MP attendance, and total working hours). More details are included in this report.

A New Assessment

MADARIK Institute — an Iraqi non-profit monitoring organization founded in 2004 — has published its final report on the performance of the Fifth Term of the Iraqi Council of Representatives.

This report has attracted major media attention, especially as the country moves toward elections for the Sixth Parliamentary Term on 11/11 of this year.

The report sets multiple evaluation indicators for MPs and ranks the best and worst based on:

• Participation in the first and second readings of proposed laws

• Participation in general topic discussions in Parliament

• Use of procedural points (points of order)

• Submitting legislative proposals

• Questioning ministers and officials

A Brief Note on the Electoral System

Before presenting performance details, the report highlights changes to the electoral system triggered by the 2019–2021 protests, which demanded electoral reform.

The electoral law used in 2018 — the Sainte-Laguë system — was abolished. Each governorate had previously been a single electoral district. Under the new system, elections were based on multiple districts, and independent candidates were recognized.

Iraq was divided into 83 districts, with a quota of 25% seats for women and 9 seats for minorities.
The early elections of the Fifth Term took place on 10/10/2021:

• 3,225 candidates (men & women)

• From 108 parties and 21 alliances

• Plus 789 independent candidates

On 11/30/2021, the Electoral Commission announced:

• 22,116,368 eligible voters

• 9,629,601 votes cast (44% turnout)

Results:

• Of 329 seats:

  • 137 seats for coalition parties

  • 148 seats for single parties

  • 44 seats for independents

Due to issues at 33 polling stations, manual recounts changed 5 winners.

Overall:

• 217 MPs (66%) entered for the first time

• 68 MPs (19%) returned for a second term

• 35 MPs (10%) returned for a third term

• Only 2 MPs had served five terms

Younger MPs increased compared to the previous term.

Among male candidates, the top 10 vote-getters included six KDP MPs from Erbil, Duhok, and Kirkuk.

Among women, Suroor Abdul-Wahid ranked first nationwide, along with several other Kurdish MPs.
A number of MPs also won with very small vote totals, listed in the report.

Parliamentary Sessions

The first session of the Fifth Term was held on 1/9/2022, in which:

• Mohammed al-Halbousi: Speaker with 200 votes

• Hakem al-Zamili (Sadrist): First Deputy Speaker with 182 votes

• Shakhawan Abdullah (KDP): Second Deputy Speaker with 180 votes

This session triggered four constitutional challenges at the Federal Supreme Court, putting parliamentary activity on hold for 12 days.

On 6/12/2022, Sadrist MPs — including Deputy Speaker al-Zamili — resigned from Parliament.

Their seats were filled by alternative MPs on 6/23/2022, and Mohsen al-Mandlawi was elected as First Deputy Speaker.

Later, mass protests — including the storming of Parliament — halted its work for 25 days, until 10/13/2022, when Latif Rashid was elected President and he tasked Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani to form a government.

On 10/27/2022, Parliament approved the new cabinet except the Reconstruction and Environment ministries, which were reserved for Kurds.

Parliamentary Performance

Compared to previous terms, the Fifth Parliament declined in:

• Session count

• Laws passed

• Ministerial questioning

• MP attendance

• Total working time

The term cancelled 20 sessions after agendas were already published.

There were also many MP replacements due to resignations and ministerial appointments — particularly after the Sadrist mass resignation of 73 MPs.

MP Activity

According to the evaluation metrics:

• Most active speaker:

  • Adel Hashoush Hatemi — spoke 80 times

• Followed by:

  • Faleh Hasan Khazaali — 66 times

  • Raed Hamdan Ajab — 55 times

In contrast:

• 76 MPs never spoke nor submitted a single procedural point — including a number of Kurdish MPs.

Additional statistics:

• 48 MPs spoke only once in four years

• 48 MPs spoke twice

• 25 MPs spoke three times

• 18 MPs spoke four times

The table also shows the most active Kurdish MPs from the PUK parliamentary faction.

A party-by-party comparison is included showing how many MPs each party had, and how many actually participated in debates.

Oversight Role

The oversight performance — including minister questioning and formal inquiries — is summarized in a dedicated table showing individual MP actions.

MP Attendance

Average attendance was only 173 MPs per session out of 329 — meaning 156 MPs absent on average.

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Working Hours

In total:

Parliament worked 294 hours and 42 minutes in four years
Equivalent to 2.2 hours per session, across 132 sessions