Iraq’s top court dismisses case against KRG

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court on Sunday dismissed a case calling for annulling all decrees of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) if parliamentary elections are not held within three months.

The complaint was filed by head of the New Generation Movement (NGM) bloc in the Iraqi parliament Srwa Abdulwahid against Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. The Iraqi top court dismissed the complaint, stating that the topic is not within its jurisdiction.

The case was filed in May, before Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani set October 20 as the new date for the parliamentary elections.

Kurdistan Region’s general elections, initially scheduled for October 2022, have been postponed several times due to disputes between political parties and pending legal cases related to the electoral process.

NGM officials and media have started referring to the current cabinet of the KRG as the “expired” government.

Diplomatic missions and international actors in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have repeatedly stressed the significance of holding the elections as soon as possible.

A series of rulings by the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court in recent years, deemed by Kurdish officials as detrimental to the Kurdistan Region’s political entity, has sparked concerns over the future of the Region’s semi-autonomous status in Iraq.