Former Iraqi PM calls for constitutional dissolution of parliament

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Wednesday called for the dissolution of the parliament through the mechanisms specified in the constitution, after the country’s top court deemed the procedure outside of its jurisdiction earlier in the day.

The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit which requested the body to dissolve the current parliament, saying that the mechanism to disband the legislature is stipulated in the constitution and was not something the court had authority over.

Abadi said in a tweet Wednesday night that he calls for presenting an initiative to dissolve the parliament and hold early elections, in accordance with Article 64 of the 2005 Iraqi constitution and through a “scheduled political agreement.”

Article 64 of the Iraqi constitution stipulates that the dissolution of the parliament can only be done through an absolute majority of its members, or upon the request of one-third of its members.

Calls for disbanding the current legislature and holding of early elections were initiated by powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr last month, in light of the current parliament’s failure to elect Iraq’s next cabinet. Abadi, key figure of Sadr’s pro-Iran rival faction Coordination Framework, welcomed the Shiite leader’s remarks back in August.

Abadi specified that the process must be observed by “a government with full authority.”

The current PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi has repeatedly decried the obstacles and limitations his cabinet encounters due to its designation as a “caretaker government.”

“It is unreasonable for the government to remain tied. The constitutional deadlines have been exceeded, but we are required to remain a caretaker government; this is not possible,” said Kadhimi in a meeting of the council of ministers last month.

Iraq continues to be shrouded in uncertainty and political instability triggered by the current parliament’s failure to form the country’s next government due to political disagreements, almost a year after the early elections in October.