Boycott further clouds Iraqi presidency

BAGHDAD－Doubts have hung over a scheduled parliamentary vote for Iraq's president after the Supreme Court temporarily suspended former foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari, a front-runner for the post, and leading parliamentary factions announced a boycott.

Decisions not to attend Monday's session again highlight political divisions in the war-scarred country.

A Kurdish political party and a Sunni political alliance decided on Sunday to boycott the parliament session to elect the country's new president, threatening to postpone the session.

"To complete the ongoing consultations and dialogues between the political blocs, we decided not to attend the session of the Council of Representatives (parliament) for tomorrow, Monday," said the Kurdistan Democratic Party, or KDP, in a statement. The party, headed by Kurdish leader Masoud Barzan, won 33 seats in the Oct 10 elections.

Al-Siyada Alliance, a Sunni political group headed by businessman Khamis al-Khanjar, said in a separate statement that they decided not to participate in the Council of Representatives session to support dialogue among political parties.

On Saturday, the Sadrist Movement, which won 73 seats out of 329 seats and is loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, also decided to boycott Monday's parliament session.

The boycott from the three political groups for the parliament session threatens to postpone the session until further notice.

Candidate suspension

The boycotts also came after the Federal Supreme Court decided to suspend the KDP's nomination of Zebari for the top post until a corruption lawsuit against him is resolved.

On Jan 31, the Iraqi parliament announced the names of 25 candidates for the presidential election scheduled for Feb 7, including incumbent President Barham Salih who represents the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Zebari from the KDP, and Rizgar Mohammed Amin, former chief judge of the Iraqi Special Tribunal that organized the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

According to the Iraqi Constitution, lawmakers should elect a new Iraqi president from the candidates by a two-thirds majority of its members. The president will be limited to serving two four-year terms.

Once elected, the new president will ask the largest parliamentary alliance to name a prime minister designate to form a government within 30 days.

Zebari was one of two main contenders for the largely ceremonial post of president, which has been held by a member of Iraq's Kurdish minority by convention.

In suspending Zebari, the court said it had received a complaint from lawmakers that his candidacy was "unconstitutional" because of graft claims.

It said the suspension was "temporary" while the court considers the case.

Iraq's highest judicial body said the complainants consider Zebari unfit to run for the post as he does not fulfill constitutional requirements that the head of state must have "a good reputation and integrity".

The court cited his 2016 dismissal from the finance minister post by parliament "over charges linked to financial and administrative corruption".

Zebari, 68, has always denied all corruption accusations.

Xinhua - Agencies