Today, Sunday, the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court decided to reject Hoshyar Zebari's candidacy for the presidency, and this came after the court held a special session to decide the case against his candidacy.
And last week, the Federal Court had decided to stop the procedures for the nomination of Zebari - the Kurdistan Democratic Party candidate - for the position of the presidency, and that the suspension would continue until the case against Zebari was decided upon, and it set today, February 13, a session to decide the case.
And the decision of the court (the highest judicial authority in the country) stated that it "has decided to suspend the procedures for electing Zebari for the position of President of the Republic temporarily until the date of resolving the case (17 Federal / 2022)," and added that "the decision was issued by the majority."
In 2018, an Iraqi court issued a request that Zebari appear before it against the backdrop of his dismissal from Parliament in 2016 on charges related to administrative and financial corruption while he was Minister of Foreign Affairs.
On the fourth of this month, the leader of the Sadrist bloc, Muqtada al-Sadr, called on his political alliance in Parliament to abstain from voting for Zebari, if he did not meet the conditions.
Al-Sadr said, in a tweet to him on Twitter, that if the candidate of the allied Kurdistan Democratic Party for the presidency of the republic does not meet the conditions, I call on the Islah representatives (the Sadrist bloc) not to vote for him.
"We are advocates of reform, not advocates of authority and rule," he added, without specifying the conditions that must be met by a presidential candidate.
Since the opening of the field to run for the presidency, 25 candidates are competing for the position of President of the Republic of Iraq, most notably the current president, Barham Salih, the candidate of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and Hoshyar Zebari, the candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
In a related context, the presidential candidate, Judge Rizgar Muhammad Amin, expected him to be chosen as a "settlement candidate" for the post of President of the Republic.
Amin said earlier last week that his candidacy could become a reason for the unification of the Kurdish House, noting that when the parties did not agree on a candidate, he would become a candidate for the two main parties in the region;
Patriotic Union and Kurdistan Democratic Party.
He added, "I have not communicated with any party publicly or secretly to obtain this position, but I am sure that all parties and parties support me, and they will not stand in my way, and with this we will see some surprises."
Amin, 65, of Kurdish nationalism, was the seventh chief judge in the trial of the late President Saddam Hussein, which took place under the supervision of the Supreme Criminal Court, but he stepped down from presiding over the trial after presiding over seven public and one secret sessions.
This judge was able to draw attention during Saddam's trial with his impartiality in conducting the sessions, and the strength of his presence.
Amin confirmed in previous statements that he resigned from the trial due to "the pressures and the charged atmosphere in the trial due to political and ruling parties."
According to the political custom that has been followed since the first parliamentary elections held in the country in 2005, the position of the President of the Republic belongs to the Kurdish component, the presidency of parliament is for the Sunnis, and the leadership of the government belongs to the Shiites.
The presidency of the republic is often owned by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, as the late Jalal Talabani assumed it over two terms, then Fuad Masum, and the current president, Barham Salih.