ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s electoral commission on Friday denied rumors that it had replaced ousted Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi as head of his bloc in the provincial council elections set to take place next month.
The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) cited commission head Omar Mohammed stating that “no decision had been issued by the Independent High Electoral Commission regarding the replacement of the head of the national Taqadum alliance [Halbousi],” in a statement on Facebook.
The statement comes days after Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court terminated Halbousi's parliamentary membership, ending his tenure as the speaker of the country’s legislature.
The Sunni strongman was accused of forging the parliamentary resignation of another Sunni lawmaker in 2022 by changing the date on the document.
Heman Tahsin, the general director of the political party and organizations department of the IHEC told Rudaw on Friday that Halbousi has not been ousted from either the party leadership or that of the Taqadum alliance for the provincial elections in December, adding that the court decision only revoked the former speaker’s parliamentary membership.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Halbousi accused the country’s top court of violating the Iraqi constitution and said that the court has no authority to determine the validity of an MP’s membership unless the legislature requests it to do so.
Halbousi on Wednesday held separate meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) chief Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and leader of the Sunni Sovereignty party Khamis al-Khanjar.
The Taqadum party, which is the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, announced in a statement late Tuesday its decision to withdraw from Sudani’s cabinet, ordering planning, industry and tourism, and culture ministers to resign.
It added that it will no longer attend meetings with the ruling State Administration Coalition, which is dominated by Shiite parties and also includes the largest Kurdish parties as well.
The pro-Iran Coordination Framework, which is one of the components of the State Administration Alliance, on Wednesday said that it will abide by the Supreme Court’s decision adding that it “rejects any harm to the reputation, impartiality and objectivity of the Iraqi judiciary.”
Halbousi is a former governor of Iraq’s Sunni-majority Anbar province, and head of the Taqadum bloc which included 37 MPs. He was re-elected as the speaker of the parliament in January last year.
The decision also jeopardizes Iraq’s highly-anticipated provincial council elections a month before their scheduled date, especially in light of Taqadum's absence.
Iraq will hold provincial council elections on December 18, the first of their kind since 2013. The term of the electoral commission is set to expire on December 7. If the parliament fails to extend the commission’s term before this date, the vote could be further delayed.
