MP Al-Kilabi clarifies Iraqi Federal Court's response to lawsuit invalidating Shaalan al-Karim's nomination

Shafaq News / Deputy Yousif Al-Kilaby confirmed on Wednesday that the Federal Supreme Court, the highest judicial authority in Iraq, did not dismiss the lawsuit against Deputy Shaalan al-Karim, indicating it was a procedural rejection and that the lawsuit will be resubmitted tomorrow after rectifying a formal error, noting that another lawsuit against al-Karim has been postponed until early April.

During a press conference held at the Parliament building, Al-Kilaby stated, "A group of parliament members, including myself, filed lawsuits with the Federal Court to withdraw Shaalan al-Karim's nomination for the presidency of the Parliament, and another lawsuit to revoke his membership due to his failure to meet membership requirements."

Regarding the withdrawal of al-Karim's nomination, Al-Kilaby mentioned that "the Federal Court formally rejected the lawsuit today due to a procedural error, and the lawsuit will be resubmitted tomorrow after correcting the formal defect."

Al-Kilaby explained, "The other lawsuit regarding the revocation of his membership is still pending, and the Federal Court has decided to review the video clips related to al-Karim's hosting of a mourning council for the deceased regime president and his threats against the Iraqi political system." He further clarified, "This other lawsuit has been postponed until April 1st."

Earlier on Wednesday, a judicial source reported that the Federal Court rejected a lawsuit challenging the nomination of Shaalan al-Karim for the position of Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament due to lack of jurisdiction.

Responding to the Federal Court's decision, Deputy Mustafa Sanad stated today that another pending lawsuit, which is arguably more significant, regarding the validity of al-Karim's membership, has not been concluded yet, and its scheduled date is April 1, 2024.

Since the Federal Supreme Court, the highest judicial authority in Iraq issued a decision on November 14, 2023, ending the membership of Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, and following the formal termination of al-Halbousi's membership by the Iraqi parliament, political blocs have been unable to agree on a replacement for him.

The Iraqi parliament held an extraordinary session on January 13 to choose the new Speaker.

The first round of voting ended with the victory of the "Taqaddom" party's Shaalan al-Karim with 152 votes out of 314. MP Salem Al-Issawi followed him with 97 votes, MP Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani with 48 votes, MP Amer Abduljabbar with six votes, and MP Talal Al-Zobaie with one vote.

However, due to verbal altercations inside the council hall, the session was adjourned without completing the election process, and no other session has been held since.

On the next day, January 14, MPs Yousif Al-Kilaby and Faleh Hassan Al-Khazali filed a lawsuit with the Federal Supreme Court, seeking a provisional injunction to halt the election session until the resolution of their lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges bribery of some MPs to vote for specific candidates for the council's presidency.

The Federal Integrity Commission (CoI) announced on January 17 that it had initiated investigations into these allegations.

Furthermore, acting Parliament Speaker Mohsen al-Mandalawi formed a parliamentary investigation committee on January 23 to probe the allegations of bribery and financial inducements related to the election session.