Iraq's parliament suspended its session on October 29 following a physical altercation between Deputy Speaker Shakhawan Abdullah and Progress Party MP Haybat al-Halbousi during debates over controversial property restitution legislation.

The incident occurred during discussions of several disputed bills, including general amnesty and the return of properties confiscated under former regime decisions.

Sources told Al-Alam Al-Jadeed that Abdullah's bodyguard physically assaulted al-Halbousi after a heated argument over the property law, prompting Progress Party MPs to gather signatures demanding Abdullah's removal.

The session's agenda included voting on property restitution laws, amendments to personal status laws, general amnesty modifications, and service regulations for Popular Mobilization Forces personnel.

Those bills had been delayed from an earlier session due to ongoing disagreements.

Iraqi journalist Nawal Almousi wrote on X, "When will the curtain fall on Parliament's theatrics and this farcical comedy chapter end? Though today's performance was excellent - there's no way to topple major deals except through the enthusiasm of those smaller than them. No need for deep analysis of the problems manufactured today - even if the direction was classical, it was the most suitable for concluding the bargaining session."

Kurdish blocs in parliament recently unified their position to support legislation cancelling former Baathist decisions regarding agricultural lands in areas covered by Article 140 of the constitution, which concerns disputed territories between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region.

The controversial package of laws faces multiple challenges.

Legal experts warn that proposed personal status law amendments could elevate religious authority above judicial power, while the general amnesty modifications face opposition over concerns about including those convicted of terrorism charges.

Experts also believe that passing laws in one basket is unconstitutional, and the Federal Court has previously objected to it.

The phenomenon of “servitude and concession” in legislating many laws in parliament has been a feature of the political system since 2003, as most of the time, these laws serve the political parties that support them, not the Iraqi street.

Critics argue that bundling controversial laws together serves political interests rather than public benefit, a practice previously challenged by Iraq's Federal Court as unconstitutional.

Fights are not a rare occasion inside the Iraqi parliament, with an earlier physical altercation kicking off on May 18.

Security forces entered the parliament chamber to control the situation in May, resulting in injuries to several members of parliament.

Among those injured in the previous Heybat al-Halbousi, a member of the Taqaddum bloc who was assaulted during the chaos over the next parliament speaker's role, which is controlled by Iraq's Sunni population.

Key positions within Iraq's government structures are distributed according to an ethno-confessional principle: the country's president represents the Kurdish community, the prime minister is a Shia Muslim, and the parliament speaker is a Sunni Muslim.