Iraqi Political Crisis: Top Court rejects petition to dissolve parliament
Iraq’s Supreme Federal Court on Wednesday has ruled against the petition from supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who recently quit politics to dissolve the parliament, just under a year after elections failed to see a government materialise.
Elections in October were poorly attended and there has been no success in forming a government.
The deadlock eventually prompted the MPs of Sadr’s Sairoon alliance, the biggest winner in the elections to withdraw from the parliament in June.
The court ruled it did not have the authority to actually dissolve parliament itself, though it could potentially have officially declared that the constitutional timeframe for a new prime minister and president to be selected had long past.
“There is no solution except in accordance with Article 64,” ruled the court, referring to the constitutional rule for an absolute majority of parliamentarians to vote in favour of dissolution, or upon the request of one third of its members by the prime minister with the president’s consent.
Iraqi Political Crisis: Top Court rejects petition to dissolve parliament
The ruling comes in the wake of violence in the capital Baghdad last week after the Sadr’s supporters stormed the fortified Green Zone and fought with security forces and supporters of Iran-backed groups.
The violence, which saw at least 28 people killed, was sparked on 29 August by an announcement by Sadr that he was planning to retire from politics.
Shortly after, his supporters apparently heeded his words and began leaving the Green Zone, where they had been occupying parliament for weeks
