The internal reactions in Iraq followed the approval of the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court on the results of the parliamentary elections that took place on the tenth of last October, and this came after it rejected earlier today the appeals against the results submitted by forces that lost in the elections.

And earlier, the Federal Court of Iraq notified the Presidency of the Republic of its final ratification of the election results, and the head of the Al-Fateh Alliance Hadi Al-Amiri announced commitment to the court’s decision, even though the elections were marred by fraud and manipulation, according to his description.

For his part, Nuri al-Maliki, head of the State of Law Alliance, described the court's decision as expected, saying that he hoped the court would do justice to those affected, and Ammar al-Hakim, head of the State Forces Alliance, announced his commitment to the decision on the election results, stressing not to participate in the next government.

In a similar situation, Qais Khazali, the leader of the "Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq" movement, expressed his regret at the decision to ratify the election results, saying that the Federal Court was subjected to internal and external pressures.

As for Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Sadrist movement, he welcomed the decision, calling for the speedy formation of a national majority government.


Appeals and judgment

Earlier today, the Iraqi Federal Court rejected the appeal against the results of the parliamentary elections, during its session, which was held to decide on the appeals against the election results.

This was the fourth session of the Federal Court to consider the complaints submitted regarding the results of the legislative elections by Hadi Al-Amiri, the head of the Al-Fateh Alliance, and a number of the losing representatives.

Prior to the court session, Muhammad al-Saadi, a lawyer for the Coordinating Framework Forces (which rejects the election results), expected the session to witness the issuance of a final decision on the case.

After the court announced its decisions, the demonstrators began to withdraw from the Green Zone gate near the Ministry of Planning and return to their tents near the place. Protesters rejecting the results of the legislative elections demonstrated near the headquarters of the Federal Court.

According to Al-Jazeera correspondent, the protesters chanted slogans rejecting any judicial decision that did not meet their demands, while the security forces closed all roads leading to the court, as well as the gates of the Green Zone and the Jumhuriya Bridge, amid a heavy security deployment.

Intense security deployment in the Iraqi capital after the court ratified the election results (Reuters)

Crisis and initiative

Meanwhile, the coordinating framework forces objecting to the election results announced an initiative to resolve the crisis, calling on the political parties to absorb all appeals and complaints against the results of the parliamentary elections.

The forces of the coordination framework also demanded to address what they described as the upcoming parliamentary imbalance to ensure that there is no singularity in enacting laws, and stressed that the solution is not through the form and representation of the government, but by focusing on its program. .

Early legislative elections in Iraq took place amid heavy security (Al-Jazeera)

Law and terms

According to Iraqi law, after the results are approved by the Federal Court, the President of the Republic calls the new parliament to convene within 15 days, and the parliamentary session will be headed by the oldest deputy.

In the first session, a speaker of the House of Representatives is elected by a majority of 165 votes out of a total of 329 (the total number of seats in parliament), then the parliament’s presidency will open the door for candidacy for the presidency within 15 days, and that his choice will be through the vote of 220 deputies in his favour, and in the event that the political blocs fail to do so. , Parliament is heading for a new vote, and the one with the highest votes will be the president, regardless of the number of deputies present or whether or not a quorum is complete, according to Harb.

Last Wednesday, the Federal Court in Iraq postponed the ruling on appealing the results of the parliamentary elections, a case brought by Hadi Al-Amiri, the head of the Al-Fateh Alliance, to challenge the election results in early December.

And the Supreme Judicial Council said - in a statement at the time - that "the Federal Court decided to postpone the hearing of the appeal against the election results," and added that "this came after hearing the last arguments and requests of the two faltering parties."

Hadi Al-Amiri said - during his pleading before the Federal Court - that this lawsuit is not against any winning party, but against the poor performance of the Electoral Commission, and considered that the consensual Electoral Commission procedures deprived millions of Iraqis from voting on election day.

The Iraqi elections took place on the tenth of last October (Reuters)

Final results

The Electoral Commission in Iraq announced the end of last November the final results of the parliamentary elections - which took place on the tenth of last October - after a recount of the votes, denying the existence of any fraud.

The decisions of the Federal Supreme Court are final and not subject to appeal, and it is at the core of its tasks to ratify the election results to become final, but it has not previously considered any lawsuit regarding the cancellation of the results.

The Al-Fateh Alliance - which is a political umbrella for the armed factions - is the most prominent loser in the recent elections by obtaining 17 seats, after it came second with 48 seats in the 2018 elections.

According to the recent results announced by the commission, the Sadrist bloc led by Muqtada al-Sadr won 73 seats out of 329, followed by the "Progress" coalition with 37 seats, then the "State of Law" coalition led by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki with 33 seats, and then the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Massoud Barzani with 31 seats.