Iraq parliament panel moves to centralize holiday authority under Prime Minister

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's parliamentary Education Committee is drafting legislation that would place authority to declare official holidays entirely with the Prime Minister's office, a committee member said. Reca Fadil al-Hamdi, a member of the committee, told the official gazette that the growing number of temporary and local holidays has disrupted teaching, particularly for final-year students. Al-Hamdi said using weather conditions affecting only limited areas as justification for declaring citywide holidays was unacceptable. Under the proposed amendment, holiday decisions would be issued solely by the Prime Minister's office, with authority centralized even when a holiday is meant to apply to a specific city, he said. The lawmaker added that the measure is intended to reduce arbitrary holiday declarations and allow educational bodies to complete their curricula on schedule. Further details of the draft were not immediately available.