The Kirkuk provincial council meeting which was planned for Tuesday, May 7th, was cancelled for the third successive time due to lack of quorum.
The meeting was intended to discuss the spending mechanism of the province’s petrodollar budget.
KirkukNow correspondent at the provincial council’s meeting hall said 20 members were present, only one member short of the needed quorum to hold a regular session.
The Kirkuk provincial council consists of 41 members; the Kurdish Brotherhood list (26 members), the Turkmens with both Sunni and Shiite sects (9 members) and the Arab bloc (6 members).
This was the third time the council fails to convene after it faced the same legal problem on April 23rd and April 30th.
The council’s efforts to hold the meeting is at a time the Iraqi government has sent 450 billion Iraqi dinars as part of the province’s petrodollar budget.
On April 9, 2019, the council held its first meeting since the October 16, 2017 events to discuss a range of issues, including the budget allocated for the province.
The Kirkuk provincial council meetings were brought to a halt for more than 18 months after Iraqi forces retook control of all territories disputed between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Iraqi federal government, including Kirkuk and forced Kurdish Peshmarga forces to pull out.
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) members of the council, who form a majority, have since boycotted the council sessions.
