Iraqi court adjourns session against first parliament sitting

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s top court on Wednesday adjourned the session to review the cases filed against the first parliamentary meeting to January 25. 

The Federal Court decided to adjourn the hearing after the plaintiff claimed MP Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, who was chairing the first parliamentary session on January 9, was assaulted before being evacuated from the parliamentary hall.

However, the plaintiff failed to provide a medical report at court.

The Iraqi parliament held its first session earlier this month, almost three months after October’s early election.

The legislative session erupted into disorder after the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shiite factions that continue to object to the election results, submitted a paper claiming they, rather than the Sadrist Movement, now hold the biggest parliamentary bloc with 88 seats, MPs from the scene told Rudaw. Mashhadani was evacuated from the hall after falling ill following the flare-up of tensions and arguments between the blocs.

The hearing came after the Federal Court on Thursday suspended the work of the newly-elected parliamentary speaker and his two deputies following a lawsuit against their election process as the parliament attempts to form a new government and elect the next president of Iraq. According to the Iraqi constitution, a president should be elected no later than February 8, 2022.