Iraq’s top court ratifies final election results

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court on Sunday ratified the final results of the country’s recent parliamentary elections, clearing the way for political blocs to move forward with forming the next government.

In a statement, the court said it had “decided to ratify the final results of the general elections for membership in the Iraqi Council of Representatives,” adding that the ruling was made unanimously and is “binding on all authorities.”

The decision followed a closed session held on Sunday to audit the final election results of the Sixth Electoral Session, which had been submitted by the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) in an official letter last week.

Iraq held early legislative elections on November 9, followed by general voting on November 11. The final results were announced in mid-November.

The court said the elections “met all constitutional and legal requirements.”

Last week, the Electoral Judicial Panel, affiliated with Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, announced that it had “concluded the review of all appeals submitted regarding the election results.”

This comes as political negotiations over key positions in the next cabinet are picking up pace. Since the 2003 US-led invasion, Iraq’s informal power-sharing system has allocated the premiership to Shiites, the speakership to Sunni Arabs, and the presidency to Kurds.

Salah al-Marawi, a member of the Azm Alliance, told state-run Al-Sabah newspaper that Iraq’s main Sunni Arab political blocs are set to meet on Sunday to agree on “the selection of one or two candidates for the position of Speaker of Parliament.”

Meanwhile, Iraq’s Shiite-led Coordination Framework has been holding meetings to narrow down its list of potential candidates for prime minister. Leading contenders include incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and former premier Nouri al-Maliki (2006–2014).

At the same time, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) remain divided over the presidency. If no agreement is reached, both parties may nominate separate candidates. The two parties last competed for the post in 2022, when the PUK’s Abdul Latif Rashid secured the position.

Traditionally, Iraq’s presidency has been held by a PUK member since 2005, two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime.