"Some deputies are working to delay the election date as much as possible." Thus, legal expert Tariq Harb summarizes the secrets of what is going on under the dome of the Iraqi parliament, while the street awaits the date of early elections on the impact of renewed demonstrations, and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazemi's commitment to conducting them.
He attributes the war of the position of deputies opposed to the early elections to "their fear of losing their seats and their desire to stay longer in parliament, at a time when Iraq is boiling on a hot plate in the wake of the popular protests sweeping the country since last October, which was one of its main demands to change the law." Electoral Commission and the elimination of corruption and unemployment.
Virtual dates
While the House of Representatives has enacted a new election law, controversy continues over some of its paragraphs. Opinions are divided over the most appropriate time to hold early elections, as the Kazemi government considers it possible in early October 2021, while political parties affirm - including the "Saerun" bloc led by Sadrist leader Muqtada al-Sadr and the "National Forces" coalition led by the Speaker of Parliament Mohammed Al-Halbousi - That early April of next year is the best date, and the United Nations Representative in Iraq, Hennes Blashardt, suggested that elections be held next June.
Al-Kazemi’s government assures that preparations for the early elections are going well, and that “fair and fair elections are a political decision first and foremost, and there are no compelling obstacles,” according to the adviser to the Prime Minister for election affairs, Dr. Hussein Al-Hindawi.
Al-Hindawi explained to Al-Jazeera Net that "early elections are possible in Iraq during a period of time that does not exceed a year, provided that the necessary requirements are provided, including completing the election law, as well as preparing the Electoral Commission, providing financial allocations, strengthening supervision, control, transparency and generalizing electoral awareness at all popular levels." .
Technical barriers
For his part, the "Iraqis" coalition led by the head of the al-Hikma movement, Ammar al-Hakim, is seen by observers who have been formed to support the al-Kazemi government; Holding early parliamentary elections is the best way to get Iraq out of its crises, despite some of the difficulties it faces.
The head of the parliamentary bloc in the coalition, MP Hisham Al-Suhail, told Al-Jazeera Net that "the problems are mainly technical, as elections cannot be held at the level of the judiciary to overlap some districts in terms of population, and differences in some governorates on the administrative borders of these districts, stressing that his alliance is working to find solutions As if the conduct of the elections is according to what is known as the intermediate constituencies, i.e. the province is divided according to its size into 3 or 4 departments in order to overcome the technical problems.
Despite the approval of the formula of multiple districts at the governorate level within the new election law, the annex to the districts tables that will witness the poll is still under consideration in the Ministry of Planning, as well as the existence of differences between Arabs and Kurds over the boundaries of many districts within the strip separating the disputed areas.
A member of the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives Ahmed Hama Rasheed told Al-Jazeera Net that most of the political opinions are agreed that elections take place in the middle of next year, that is, after about 10 months from now, and until this time the funds may be available, especially as the election law and the tables attached to it will be subject to discussion Once again, indicating that Parliament is currently in a legislative holiday, and the new legislative term begins next September, and all of this needs more time.
Dissolution of Parliament
For his part, former Chairman of the Electoral Commission Council, Adel al-Lami, believes that early elections are possible within 5 to 6 months, provided there is a political will to dissolve Parliament for himself, an enforceable law, as well as completing the quorum of the Federal Court, in order to ratify the results The election.
Al-Lami told Al-Jazeera Net that "the elections need a financial budget allocated to the commission, in the range of 250 to 300 million dollars, as was the cost in the last elections."
The Federal Supreme Court that is specialized in examining constitutional disputes is unable to convene due to the referral of one of its nine judges to retirement, and the lack of a clear mechanism to compensate him, as it is incumbent on them to ratify the elections and the validity of the membership of members of Parliament and to consider appeals against the results.
According to the law of the Federal Court that administratively follows the Supreme Judicial Council, the quorum is complete with the presence of a president and 8 members, and it is not valid until the presence of all its members. Otherwise, everything issued by it is not binding.
The court compensated its original members who were referred to retirement with members from the reserve list, but the last reserve lists in the court revealed that all of its members were referred to retirement for reaching the legal age, and one of them could not be chosen for membership of the court body, which means that the quorum will remain dysfunctional.
Commenting on this, legal expert Tariq Harb confirms that "the previous court law issued in 2005 with number 30 is still in force, and it is possible to amend the third article of it by a simple majority, where a member may be appointed to complete the quorum of the court, instead of waiting for the new court law that stipulated a two-thirds majority, Any approval of 220 deputies, and it can be adopted in a very short period not exceeding 10 days. "