The Iraqi Parliament votes on controversial articles in the Federal Court Law
Today, the Iraqi parliament voted on a number of articles of the Federal Court Law , which is the last of the laws against holding the upcoming parliamentary elections , amid disagreements over other articles, and warnings from political forces that they will not be passed.
Before the session was held, the political forces held a meeting inside the parliament building, during which they discussed the contentious articles of the law and the possibility of consensus on them.
During a session attended by 255 deputies, Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi presented the remaining paragraphs of the law, and paragraphs 8, 10 and 21 were passed, which are among the controversial articles in the law.
The deputy of the “Sairoun” coalition, Sabah Al-Ugaili, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “the three articles are related to the issues of service, salaries and retirement, and they were voted on after the dispute over them was settled.”
He explained that “the remaining articles are the second article and it concerns the numbers of judges and jurists, and there is a disagreement about it, and the third concerns how to nominate judges and jurists and the party that nominates them, and Article 12 concerns the method of voting inside the court, and it has been postponed to the next session.”
He stressed that “these articles are very important and are the core of the law, and Christians objected to them if they wanted to be represented among the judges.”
The deputy of the coalition of Iraqis, Jasim Al-Bahati, considered the objection to the other paragraphs “unjustified,” stressing to “Al-Araby Al-Jadeed”, that “the components’ objection to those articles is a political objection.
He pointed out that “it was agreed with the Presidency of Parliament and other forces that the law would be completed during the Saturday session,” stressing that “those forces object to the appointment of the jurists, and considered their presence pushing the direction of the religious state.”
On the other hand, the advisor to the Speaker of Parliament for Component Affairs, Imad Youkhana, called on the civilian components and blocs and the deputies who believe in a civil state, to “not allow the passage of the law, as it establishes a religious state and imposes the majority religion on all Iraqis,” stressing in a press statement that “the law strikes Human rights and democracy are out of the question. ”
He stressed that “all civil forces and civil society organizations must move urgently to stop this legislation by all available constitutional and legal means.”
The former representative of the Kurdish forces, Arafat Karam, warned against passing the law, as it establishes the “religious state”, and said in a tweet on “Twitter”, that “granting the right of veto to Sharia jurists in the Federal Court law is the consolidation of the religious state, and the undermining of the civil state, because Sharia jurists are not infallible until they possess this advantage. What they say is human ijtihad may be wrong and may be right, and what was tolerant of right and wrong is not suitable for reversal at all.
Last Thursday, the Iraqi parliament voted on the majority of the articles of the Federal Court’s law, after political consensus was reached on them.
The problem of the Federal Court began at the end of 2019 after the retirement of one of its members, Farouk Al-Sami, as the court was unable to appoint an alternate member after earlier canceling the only legal text that regulates the court’s work, pending the parliament’s legislation of the Federal Court Law, which would Establish appropriate mechanisms for selecting new members.
And the Iraqi Elections Commission has previously expressed its readiness to hold early elections on the specified date, stressing that holding elections requires the fulfillment of several conditions, including the parliament completing the quorum of the Federal Court, which is the only body authorized according to the law to certify the election results.