Backlash against bid grows
Iraq’s parliament completes first reading on controversial ‘regressive’ amendment
BAGHDAD – The Iraqi parliament conducted the first reading of proposed controversial amendments to the Personal Status Law and the General Amnesty Law, sparking public protests and political discord.
The proposed amendments to the 1959 Personal Status Law have been met with significant backlash. These include legalizing non-judicial marriages, aligning marital disputes with the husband’s sect, and denying inheritance rights to women.
Particularly contentious is the provision allowing child marriage for girls as young as nine under the Shia Jaafari sect. Another amendment would enable a man to take a second wife without the consent of his first wife and allow couples to retrospectively declare a sect, thereby applying its laws to their marriage retrospectively.
In response, female members across various political blocs in the Iraqi Parliament formed a new bloc opposing these amendments.
Coordination Framework urges parliament to pass personal status law amendment
