ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The top Iraqi court ratified the results of the October 10 parliamentary elections on Monday despite claims by pro-Iran political parties that the vote was rigged.
The Federal Supreme Court said on Monday that it had rejected an appeal by Hadi Amiri, leader of Fatih Alliance, against the final results of the elections which were announced late November.
Hours later, the top court said that it had ratified the final results of the election.
According to the final results, the Sadrist bloc gained 73 seats out of the legislature's total 329 seats, becoming the top winner of the elections. Fatih Alliance, the largest list representing the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi), won 17 seats. Taqadum, a Sunni alliance headed by the outgoing speaker of Iraqi parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi, gained 37 seats.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which had gained 33 seats in the initial results, lost two seats to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). This increased PUK’s seats from 15 to 17 but a Kurdish winning candidate, who won a seat in Kirkuk, has announced she is affiliated to the party as well. The New Generation movement won nine seats.
The Coordination Framework, which includes the Fatih Alliance, State of Law Coalition and National State Forces Alliance and other blocs, have alleged fraud, demanding the cancellation of the vote.
PMF supporters have held several protests in the capital city of Baghdad, especially on Fridays, rejecting the election results.
Amiri’s office said in a statement on its Telegram channel on Monday that he is “committed” to the supreme court’s decision “out of our keenness to abide by the Constitution and law as well as our fear for the security and political stability of Iraq.”
It added that they still have a “deep belief that the electoral process was marred with a lot of fraud.”
Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Sadrist bloc, welcomed the decision in a tweet, describing it as “national democratic wedding.” He also called for the speedy formation of a “national majority government.”
After the ratification of the results, the new parliament will hold its inaugural session and elect a new president who will appoint a prime minister to form a cabinet which later needs the approval of the assembly.
