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Baghdad / AFP
An Iraqi court has dealt a blow to Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi’s efforts to replace a cabinet dominated by entrenched political parties, invalidating the session that approved new ministers.
But it also settled the issue of whether parliament speaker Salim Al Juburi retains his job—a question that had resulted in two rival claimants to the position—by scrapping another session at which lawmakers voted to sack him.
The sessions were held during a chaotic month for Iraqi politics in which lawmakers failed to approve all but a handful of new ministers proposed by Abadi, angering protesters who eventually stormed parliament. With the ruling, the court effectively turns back the Iraqi political clock to the pre-April status quo: no new ministers have been approved, and Juburi is confirmed in his position. “The federal court decided to invalidate the parliamentary sessions of April 14 and 26,” higher judicial council spokesman Abdelsattar Bayraqdar said in a statement on Tuesday.