Forty-year-old Mahdi has been serving tea in the legislature since the body’s first term. A native of Harir, he has lived in Erbil since childhood.
Many MPs have come and gone, yet he still remains tea man in the parliament. The first speaker of the parliament, Jawhar Namiq Salim, is the only person he has not served tea to, he said.
Mahdi said he used to occasionally serve tea at funerals before he was employed at parliament.
“I first visited Mam Abas, a tea man here. The work was initially very difficult for me. I wasn’t familiar with the many rooms in the building, although there were only the PUK and KDP factions along with five Assyrian MPs. It was difficult for me. But with these many factions nowadays, the work is very easy for me.”
“I cannot live without my teapots for one day,” he said.
The bell of the tearoom rings hundreds of times every day as different parliamentary factions call for tea.
“We have full confidence in Mahdi. He is one of the trusted persons. We regard him as a family member,” said Mahmud Haji Omar, a Gorran MP, when waiting in their office for glasses of tea.
Omed Khoshnaw, head of the KDP faction, said “I receive many guests daily and Mahdi’s tea and coffee is always available to serve.”
Talar Latif, an MP from the PUK, remembered drinking Mahdi’s tea when she visited the parliament before being elected to the legislature.
“I visited the parliament as a guest in the previous term,” she said. “Mahdi has become an example of morality and beautiful behavior to his colleagues working with him in the café.”
He knocks on the doors of different factions tens of times a day with his hot tea and coffee. And the MPs welcome him warmly.
“We are proud that our guests drink good tea and coffee. Mahdi is a loyal person and loves his work. I mostly drink tea, but his coffee is also exceptional,” said deputy speaker of the parliament Jafaar Imniki.
Kurdistan parliament is in its fourth term and Mahdi continues his work.
