ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Iraqi parliament on Tuesday postponed its session, during which a vote was supposed to be held on a bill for Halabja’s accession to province, by one day, after failing to meet the legal quorum.

The session was initially scheduled to start at 8:00 PM local time, but was delayed by 30 minutes after failing to meet quorum. It was ultimately postponed to Wednesday as the attendance status did not change.

Division bell rings for the second time in the Iraqi parliament, calling on the MPs to enter the hall, after the session was initially delayed by half an hour for not meeting the legal quorum

🎥: Daroon Malanaji/The New Region pic.twitter.com/MS3xGJgUZm

— The New Region (@thenewregion) March 25, 2025

Several items were included in the session’s agenda, including a bill for Halabja’s accession to province, which has been highly contested by several Sunni and Shiite blocs for years.

“We have decided that Kurds will not participate in any parliamentary session that does not include Halabja’s accession to province,” Rebwar Hadi, a Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) MP told The New Region, after the session was postponed.

Photos capture Iraqi MPs watching the national football team’s World Cup qualifier match against Palestine, instead of attending the parliamentary session

Monday’s parliamentary session was postponed for failing to meet the legal quorum pic.twitter.com/devhd6GaXZ

— The New Region (@thenewregion) March 25, 2025

The bill has been added to the parliament’s agenda several times since, but has not been voted on due to the opposition of a number of parliamentary blocs, who raise other Iraqi districts for accession.

Shakhawan Abdullah, the parliament's second deputy speaker who is also a Kurd from Kirkuk, announced on Monday that the item would be added to the agenda, noting, “We have also talked to the parliamentary blocs to pass the bill.”

On March 16, the 37^th anniversary of the Halabja chemical attack, Kurdistan Region officials renewed their call for the ascension of Halabja to an Iraqi province, urging the parliament to expedite the process.

"No more negligence must be done against Halabja’s sacrifices and that they will have to be properly compensated, and Halabja's ascension to a province must be passed as soon as possible," Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani wrote on X.