BAGHDAD: Iraq’s supreme court on Tuesday ruled as unconstitutional the extended mandate of autonomous Kurdistan’s parliament, rendering invalid votes taken by the chamber since last year.
It is the latest controversy between Iraq’s federal authorities and Kurdistan whose leaders had on Saturday denounced amendments in the federal budget affecting oil sales from the region in Iraq’s north.
Elections in Iraqi Kurdistan had been scheduled for late 2022, but disputes between its two main parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), forced the assembly to extend its mandate for another year.
Fresh elections were scheduled for November this year.
In his ruling Judge Jassem Mohammed Aboud, president of the top federal court in Baghdad, found unconstitutional the year-long extension of the chamber’s mandate.
As a result, decisions taken by the Kurdistan parliament since October 2022 “are constitutionally invalid,” Aboud said.
His ruling came after some Kurdistan opposition legislators who were upset with the mandate extension took their case to the court.
Last week, deputies in Kurdistan’s parliament came to blows after the KDP scheduled a late vote to activate the commission organizing the elections. PUK lawmakers wanted the vote postponed.
The KDP currently holds the largest bloc of 45 seats, trailed by the PUK with 21 in the 111-seat chamber.
Shivan Fazil, a researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, said the court’s ruling “is unprecedented” because it also nullifies “the government that has been sworn in” before the regional parliament.
Iraq top court invalidates decisions of Kurdish parliament
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Iraq top court invalidates decisions of Kurdish parliament
- Elections in Iraqi Kurdistan had been scheduled for late 2022
- Disputes between its two main parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, forced the assembly to extend its mandate for another year
Iran temporarily closes airspace to most flights
WASHINGTON: Iran temporarily closed its airspace to all flights except international ones to and from Iran with official permission at 5:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday, according to a notice posted on the Federal Aviation Administration’s website.
The prohibition is set to last for more than two hours until 7:30 p.m. ET, or 0030 GMT, but could be extended, the notice said. The United States was withdrawing some personnel from bases in the Middle East, a US official said on Wednesday, after a senior Iranian official said Tehran had warned neighbors it would hit American bases if Washington strikes.
Missile and drone barrages in a growing number of conflict zones represent a high risk to airline traffic. India’s largest airline, IndiGo said some of its international flights would be impacted by Iran’s sudden airspace closure. A flight by Russia’s Aeroflot bound for Tehran returned to Moscow after the closure, according to tracking data from Flightradar24.
Earlier on Wednesday, Germany issued a new directive cautioning the country’s airlines from entering Iranian airspace, shortly after Lufthansa rejigged its flight operations across the Middle East amid escalating tensions in the region.
The United States already prohibits all US commercial flights from overflying Iran and there are no direct flights between the countries. Airline operators like flydubai and Turkish Airlines have canceled multiple flights to Iran in the past week. “Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said Safe Airspace, a website run by OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that shares flight risk information.
“The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.” Lufthansa said on Wednesday that it would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace until further notice while it would only operate day flights to Tel Aviv and Amman from Wednesday until Monday next week so that crew would not have to stay overnight.
Some flights could also be canceled as a result of these actions, it added in a statement. Italian carrier ITA Airways, in which Lufthansa Group is now a major shareholder, said that it would similarly suspend night flights to Tel Aviv until Tuesday next week.
