Re-holding of parliament's session between course correction and political crisis

The opinions of local politicians and legal experts differ, regarding the decision of Iraq's Supreme Court, to temporarily suspend the work of the Presidency of the Council of Representatives.

In this regard, political analyst Ali al-Baydar said during an exclusive statement to PUKmedia that the Federal Court's decision did not come out of anywhere and is not a numbing message to the objecting parties. 

"There are some facts that the court considered unconstitutional and legal, so it proceeded to give more space to consider the appeal submitted against the session until the details of what happened in the first session of the Council of Representatives are ascertained," he said.

"There will be an objective, legal and binding decision, because the Federal Court is a neutral party, and politics have not entered it yet, so we are waiting for an objective decision," he added.

Baydar ruled out the re-election of the Speaker of the Council of Representatives saying that it is a difficult process and may enter Iraq into a new crisis, and the Court does not want to complicate the political situation.

For his part, legal expert Ali al-Tamimi said, during an exclusive statement to PUKmedia that the Federal Court has two options.

"If the Federal Court invalidates the election of the Speaker of the Council of Representatives, the President of the Republic will call the Council of Representatives to reconvene and there will be no void or constitutional or legal defect," he said.

"If the Federal Court decides to continue the presidency of the Council of Representatives in its work, the Presidency of the Council of Representatives will carry out the procedures for electing the President of the Republic," he added.

On the other hand, Muhammad al-Sihoud, a leader in the Coordination Framework, described the decision of the Federal Supreme Court as the right and very important decision that puts the political process on the right path.

The Coordination Framework consists of Iraq's Shiite party apart from the Sadrist Movement. The Framework was one of the objecting parties to the October elections results.

"What is required of the Federal Court is to correct the wrong tracks, especially since the session was tainted by suspicions, and therefore the elections that took place are not legitimate and their outcomes are illegitimate," Sihoud told PUKmedia.

Iraq's newly elected parliament voted to reinstate Halbousi for his second term as speaker last Sunday but some rival parties opposed the move.

The Federal Court suspended the work of the Council of Representatives' elected Presidency last Thursday. The ruling came after MPs Bassem Khashan and Mahmoud Daoud filed a complaint citing "legal and constitutional violations" in their election.

Following more than 2 months over the recent elections held in Iraq, the country is yet to form a government as political parties have so far been unable to reach understandings.

The party of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was the largest vote-getter in the Iraqi parliamentary elections. 

The country held the elections months ahead of its time. Early elections were one of the demands of the protesters who took to the Iraqi streets in October 2019 to vent their anger and frustration at the government's inability to fight corruption and provide them with security and stability.



PUKmedia