Iraq: Al-Halbousi Says Federal Government’s Decision to Terminate his Membership in Parliament is ‘Unconstitutional’

Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani meets with Speaker of Parliament Mohammad al-Halbousi on Wednesday. (The office of the Iraqi Prime Minister)
Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani meets with Speaker of Parliament Mohammad al-Halbousi on Wednesday. (The office of the Iraqi Prime Minister)
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Iraq: Al-Halbousi Says Federal Government’s Decision to Terminate his Membership in Parliament is ‘Unconstitutional’

Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani meets with Speaker of Parliament Mohammad al-Halbousi on Wednesday. (The office of the Iraqi Prime Minister)
Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani meets with Speaker of Parliament Mohammad al-Halbousi on Wednesday. (The office of the Iraqi Prime Minister)

Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi said the Federal Supreme Court’s decision to terminate his membership in the House of Representatives was “unconstitutional”.

The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court on Tuesday terminated Halbousi’s tenure, state media said, in a shock decision that upends the career of Iraq’s most powerful Sunni politician and sets the stage for a fight over succession.

Al-Halbousi met on Wednesday with Prime Minister Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani to discuss the latest political developments and efforts to maintain political stability, according to a statement by the Iraqi prime minister.

The statement added that Al-Sudani underlined the importance of resorting to dialogue between the different political forces to resolve all emerging problems.

In a press conference later on Wednesday, Al-Halbousi said that based on the constitution, the MP’s membership ends in the event of death, resignation, felony, or illness.

He continued: “The Federal Court did not take into account all the conditions for terminating my membership in the House of Representatives... The Court, with its decision, violated the Constitution, and this is a dangerous matter...”

An informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the forces of the Shiite Coordination Framework and the State Administration Coalition began meetings on Wednesday evening, to discuss two main points, namely the termination of the membership of the Speaker of Parliament and the announcement of the leader of the Sadrist movement to boycott the local elections next month.

“If the Sunnis do not participate in the meeting as the third pillar of the pro-government ruling coalition, the fate of this coalition will be at stake for the first time a year after the formation of the current government headed by Mohammad Shiaa Al-Sudani,” the source remarked.

According to the same source, “the Kurds, who constitute the other important pillar of the coalition, will have a political stance on Al-Halbousi’s dismissal.”

He noted that the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Masoud Barzani, will declare its respect for the judiciary’s decision despite its previous problems with the Federal Court, which had excluded Barzani’s candidate for the presidency, former Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

The source believes that the ball is now in the court of the Shiite Coordination Framework, which must provide reassurances to the Kurds in the first place, and to the rest of the parties within the Sunni component.



Senior US Republican Demands Biden Administration Shut Gaza Aid Pier

 A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
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Senior US Republican Demands Biden Administration Shut Gaza Aid Pier

 A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)

The Republican lawmaker who leads the House Armed Services Committee has written to the Biden administration formally demanding it shut down its aid pier off the coast Gaza, calling the operation ineffective, risky and a waste of money.

The offshore floating pier, announced by Biden in March as a response to the threat of famine in the Gaza Strip, was constructed off the coast of the enclave by the US military as a way to bring in food and other aid supplies.

The US military has been authorized to operate it until the end of July, but a US Agency for International Development official said this week that the administration could seek to extend it for at least another month.

"I urge the Administration to immediately cease this failed operation before further catastrophe occurs and consider alternative means of land and air-based humanitarian aid delivery," House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers wrote in a letter seen by Reuters.

The letter, sent to White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has not been previously reported.

Rogers has long opposed the pier and has called in the past for it to be dismantled, but he had not previously expressed that view in a formal written letter to the administration.

His armed services committee is the Pentagon's top oversight body in the House of Representatives, and formal requests from its chairman traditionally require a response from Pentagon officials.

Aid first began arriving via the US-built pier on May 17 into Gaza, where nearly all the 2.3 million residents have been displaced by Israel's campaign against the Hamas movement.

But rough seas have damaged the pier, forcing repairs, and poor weather has limited the number of days the pier has been operational. Most of the supplies that have reached the shore have yet to be distributed by UN aid agencies which say their operations have been limited by insecurity.

"As of June 19, JLOTS had only been operational about 10 days and had only moved 3,415 metric tons onto the beach in Gaza," Rogers wrote, using the US military's acronym for the pier system, known as Joint Logistics Over the Shore.

According to US military data, as of Tuesday, 8,332 pallets had been delivered via the pier. But around 84% of them have been sitting on Gaza's coast in a marshalling area waiting to be picked up by the United Nations for distribution.

The World Food Program paused deliveries earlier this month over security concerns.

Reuters was given rare access to the US military-run pier off Gaza on Tuesday and saw aid pallets being moved from a vessel onto the 1,200-foot (370 m)-long pier as it bobbed around with the incoming waves. The pallets were then taken by trucks to the coast.

The operation is complex, involving about 1,000 US military personnel. The Pentagon estimates the first 90 days of operation will cost about $230 million.

Rogers also noted that three US servicemembers suffered non-combat injuries while deployed on the operation.

"I urge the Administration to immediately cease this failed operation before further catastrophe occurs and consider alternative means of land and air-based humanitarian aid delivery," Rogers wrote.