The Iraqi Federal Court: We do not have the constitutional authority to dissolve parliament

Iraq's Supreme Court said on Wednesday it did not have the constitutional authority to dissolve parliament, a key demand of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his millions of followers and an important sticking point in a power struggle that led to bloody clashes in Baghdad last month.

The Iraqi Federal Court added in a statement that "the penalty imposed on the parliament for failing to fulfill its constitutional duties is to dissolve the parliament when there are justifications."

The Iraqi parliament is a powerful body that chooses the country's president and prime minister and must approve all laws.

The political crisis in Iraq, which began after the October elections, led to the outbreak of violence in the streets described as the worst clashes in the country in years.

Militants of al-Sadr's followers exchanged machine-gun and rocket fire with government forces and Iranian-backed armed factions at the end of August, after al-Sadr announced his withdrawal from politics and allowed protesters to storm government buildings.

Al-Sadr won a majority in the October elections but withdrew all of his deputies, nearly a quarter of parliament members, in June and resorted to street protests after his current failed to form a government.

The cleric's opponents, mostly from Iran-backed parties with armed wings, tried to form a government in the face of protests and unrest, but failed.

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