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
US announces ‘large-scale’ strikes against Daesh in Syria
- CENTCOM said operation ordered by President Donald Trump
- Launched in response to the deadly Dec. 13 Daesh attack in Palmyra
WASHINGTON: US and allied forces carried out “large-scale” strikes against the Daesh group in Syria on Saturday in response to an attack last month that left three Americans dead, the US military said.
“The strikes today targeted Daesh throughout Syria” and were part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, which was launched “in direct response to the deadly Daesh attack on US and Syrian forces in Palmyra, Syria” on December 13, US Central Command said in a statement on X.
CENTCOM said the operation was ordered by President Donald Trump following the ambush and is aimed at “root(ing) out Islamic terrorism against our warfighters, prevent(ing) future attacks, and protect(ing) American and partner forces in the region.”
The statement continued: “If you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice,” adding that US and coalition forces remain “resolute in pursuing terrorists who seek to harm the United States.”
The statement did not note whether anyone was killed in the strikes. The Pentagon declined to comment on more details and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
About 1,000 US troops remain in Syria, while Syria has been cooperating with a US-led coalition against Daesh, reaching an agreement late last year when President Ahmed Al-Sharaa visited the White House.
* With Agencies
