BAGHDAD, Aug 19 (AFP) - Iraq's interim parliament, elected by default from one list of candidates at a national conference, will hold its first session on September 1, said new member and conference organiser Fuad Maasum.
"The new Iraqi national assembly is supposed to hold its first session on September 1. The session will be dedicated to enshrining the rules of the parliament, drawing up a schedule for the sessions and the issues it is to discuss," Maasum told a Baghdad news conference.
The 100-member interim legislature, which is to advise the government as it paves the way for general elections scheduled for January 2005, is made up of 81 elected members and 19 former members of the defunct Governing Council.
A single list of 81 candidates drawn up by the major parties was voted through by delegates at the four-day national conference after a rival list was withdrawn for failing to adhere to preset criteria, an official source said.