Iraqi Parliament cannot amend, cancel election results: Muqtada al-Sadr’s spokesperson

For the third time, the Iraqi parliament failed to meet a quorum to discuss and examine the results of the parliamentary elections held on May 12.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The spokesperson for the Head of the Sairoon Coalition on Saturday called on the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) to seriously consider requests from political parties over the elections results, rejecting the Iraqi Parliament’s attempts to cancel the outcomes.

Jaafar al-Musawi, a spokesperson for Muqtada al-Sadr, the Leader of Sairoon, said it was not within the jurisdiction of the Iraqi Parliament to cancel or amend the elections results even through legislation of the law.

Musawi added that any attempt by the Parliament to cancel the outcome of the elections is “away from the concept of legislation but close to creating chaos.”

The elections law has outlined the appealing mechanism that needs to be followed when the results are announced, Musawi stated, noting that the mechanism includes an allocation of a judicial body from the court of cassation to consider the appeals based on law.

“What the Council of Representatives is planning to legislate is a violation of other authorities’ jurisdiction,” he said.

Sadr’s spokesperson mentioned that in the case of any shortcomings in the work of the IHEC, the Parliament has to hold it accountable in accordance with the law.

On Saturday, the Iraqi Parliament, for the third time, failed to meet a quorum to discuss and examine the results of the parliamentary elections held on May 12 and, specifically, accusations of fraud.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany