KDP MPs in Iraq parliament to return to Baghdad
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) announced on Wednesday that its faction will return to Baghdad to participate in Iraqi parliament sessions.
The KDP has not attended Iraqi parliamentary sessions since the Kurdistan independence vote and Baghdad’s rejection of the result.
KDP MPs were the primary target of a group within the parliament that sought to have Kurdish MPs prosecuted for participating in the September 25 referendum.
Some 100 MPs requested the Federal Court take legal measures against Kurdish MPs who voted for separation from Iraq. The MPs, led by the Shiite State of Law Coalition, sought to have the Kurdish representatives stripped of their parliamentary immunity and put on trial.
Of 14 MPs put forward for the punishment, 10 were from the KDP.
The Federal Court refused to act on the matter, saying that under the constitution issuing verdicts against MPs does not fall under its jurisdiction.
Renas Jano, one of the MPs named, said at the time that parliament speaker Salim al-Jabouri had asked the MPs to return to Baghdad, but he “has not given any guarantees to the MPs that there will not be any legal measures against them once they return.”
The KDP has not attended Iraqi parliamentary sessions since the Kurdistan independence vote and Baghdad’s rejection of the result.
KDP MPs were the primary target of a group within the parliament that sought to have Kurdish MPs prosecuted for participating in the September 25 referendum.
Some 100 MPs requested the Federal Court take legal measures against Kurdish MPs who voted for separation from Iraq. The MPs, led by the Shiite State of Law Coalition, sought to have the Kurdish representatives stripped of their parliamentary immunity and put on trial.
Of 14 MPs put forward for the punishment, 10 were from the KDP.
The Federal Court refused to act on the matter, saying that under the constitution issuing verdicts against MPs does not fall under its jurisdiction.
Renas Jano, one of the MPs named, said at the time that parliament speaker Salim al-Jabouri had asked the MPs to return to Baghdad, but he “has not given any guarantees to the MPs that there will not be any legal measures against them once they return.”