Iraq's Federal Court dismisses Al-Fatah's complaint against the October 10 vote
Shafaq News/ Iraq's Supreme Court rejected on Monday the complaint lodged by the head of al-Fatah bloc, Hadi al-Ameri, to dispute October's election results, a court ruling read by the court's chairman, Jassim Mohammed, said.
The ruling came amid tight security inside and around Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, where the court building, government offices and embassies are located. The security measures and protests by supporters of Shiite militias outside the zone have snarled traffic and disrupted the daily life.
The ruling stipulated that the contesting political party can challenge the ruling within three days of its announcement and the Judicial Council has exclusive power in the matters related to the election results.
"The plaintiffs request to look into the technical measures of the observing company is beyond the specialty of the Court," it added.
The Court called on the Iraqi Parliament to amend the law and adopt the hand counting and tallying exclusively.
"The Federal Court decided to dismiss the complaint of the plaintiffs Hasan Farhan Abdallah -al-Ameri- and Mohammad Jasim, charge them with the expenses and fees, and dismiss their request to issue a preliminary decision to halt the ratification of the final results of the election."
Iraqis voted on October 10 in an early election demanded by the pro-reform, youth-led protests that swept central and southern Iraq two years earlier.
The Sadrist bloc, a political group sponsored by populist Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, emerged as the clear winner with 73 seats in the 329-seat parliament. Al-Takaddom party, one of two main Sunni political groups and led by former parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, followed with 37 seats. Former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law bloc came third with 33 seats.
Al-Sadr's main rival, the Iran-backed al-Fatah Alliance, won only 17 seats, compared with 45 in 2018.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) won 31 seats, while Kurdistan Alliance led by the rival the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party won only 17 seats.
State of Law, Fatah and other Shiite groups formed the Coordination Framework to contest the election results. Their appeal to the Supreme Court alleged many electoral irregularities, including the failure of the electronic voting system to recognise the fingerprint identification of many voters.
Once the result is confirmed by the Supreme Court, negotiations are expected among Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish groups over the formation of a new government to replace the outgoing cabinet led by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
