Iraqi Parliament and the UN Security Council

In late 2007, the UN Security Council will consider renewal of the mandate that authorizes the presence of the US-led multinational force (MNF) in Iraq. Global Policy Forum outlines the little-known demands of the Iraqi parliament to ratify any new agreement on the MNF. The Iraqi constitution requires the cabinet to submit such agreement for ratification and the parliament has already passed a law demanding conformity with this provision. A majority of parliamentarians also wrote a letter to Security Council members about the matter, calling for a timetable for MNF withdrawal. If Prime Minister al-Maliki again submits a request to the Security Council without parliamentary approval, a constitutional crisis in Iraq would surely follow. GPF argues that the Council should take into account the concerns of the parliament and of the great majority of the Iraqi people, so that a withdrawal plan can be set.