MILAN, Italy - Kurdish blocs in the Iraqi parliament on Wednesday vowed to boycott any upcoming sessions of the legislature until a vote on Halabja’s provincial accession is carried out, after a scheduled vote on the bill was postponed for the second consecutive day.

The Iraqi parliament failed to hold its session to vote on Halabja’s accession due to not meeting the legal quorum for the second day in a row on Wednesday, furthering the frustration of the Kurdish blocs of the legislature.

Shakhawan Abdullah, the parliament’s second deputy speaker and an MP of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), described the absence or participation of lawmakers in the session as “a political stance,” noting that the Halabja bill concerns all the Kurdish parties, who have all made efforts toward passing it.

A second reading of a controversial bill aiming to modify the minimum and maximum salaries for Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) members and their legal retirement age was also included in Wednesday’s session.

Addressing those who skipped Wednesday’s session under the pretext of not wanting to pass the PMF bill, Abdullah said that the Halabja bill will be the sole item on the agenda for upcoming parliament sessions, stressing that they will not introduce the two bills as a package to facilitate their passage.

“In the upcoming session of the parliament, we will solely include Halabja on the agenda, and there will be no sessions where the Halabja bill is not the first item on the agenda or sessions where there are other items on the agenda,” Abdullah told reporters.

All eyes were on the Iraqi parliament session on Tuesday, as Kurds around the world anticipated the long-delayed passing of a bill regarding Halabja’s accession to provincial status - a recognition long-demanded by the city’s afflicted population.

Yet, despite taking a sacred oath to serve their legislative duties, several Iraqi lawmakers were captured watching the national football team’s World Cup qualifier match against Palestine, instead of attending the parliamentary session; a session ultimately delayed as the number of MPs in attendance did not meet quorum.

“If tonight’s session on Halabja’s accession to province is not held, we will not participate in any other session of the Iraqi parliament until there is a vote on the Halabja bill,” Kurdistan Justice Group (Komal) MP Soran Omar told reporters on Wednesday.

“This is the decision from the meeting of all the Kurdish blocs,” he added.

The bill for Halabja’s accession to province has been highly contested for years, with repeated attempts at passing proving futile, due to the opposition of a number of Shiite and Sunni parliamentary blocs, who raise other Iraqi districts for accession as well.

On March 16, the 37th 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.