Iraq's new parliament has brought forward the date of its next session to July 13, the acting speaker said on Tuesday, after a five-week delay announced Monday was criticized by local lawmakers and the United States, Reuters reported.
"For the sake of the public interest and committing to the constitutional procedures and preserving the continuity of building democracy... we decided to change the date [of the next session] to July 13," Mehdi al-Hafidh said in a statement.