A day after the speaker of Iraq’s parliament threatened to disband the legislature, lawmakers passed three key but divisive laws after months of infighting, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The measures—passage of a federal budget, limited amnesty for prisoners, and curbs on the powers of local governments—allowed Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis all to claim victory, the New York Times says.
Kurds won a 17% share of this year’s $48 billion budget, Shiites secured a pre-October date for provincial elections, and Sunnis pushed for amnesty because 80% of detainees in Iraqi jails belong to their sect. “Today we have a wedding party for the Iraqi parliament,” the speaker said today, but critics complained the bundled legislation was unconstitutional, the AP reports. (More Iraq stories.)