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.
