The Federal Supreme Court of Iraq on Sunday suspended “temporarily» the candidacy of one of the favorites of the presidential election, on the eve of a vote of the deputies who must elect the new head of state.
Read alsoWhere is the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq?
In its decision, Iraq’s highest court said it had been seized by MPs regarding a complaint relating to the “unconstitutionalityof Mr. Zebari’s candidacy, in particular because of accusations of corruption. The suspension of Mr. Zebari is “temporary“, the “time (which the Court, Editor’s note) decides in this case“. It comes on the eve of a session in Parliament during which the 329 deputies must elect the new President of the Republic.
The plaintiffs believe that Mr. Zebari does not meet the constitutional requirements to become President of the Republic, namely “good reputation and integrity“, indicates the Court. They cite in particular his dismissal in 2016 by Parliament when he was Minister of Finance “on charges related to financial and administrative corruption“.
The complaint also cites at least two other court cases involving the 68-year-old former minister, including when he was head of diplomacy. He would also be in the sights of justice for “abuse of power” in connection with “large sums spent on a building that does not belong to the State“.
Read also“Human losses” in Turkish raids in Iraq targeting the PKK, announce the Kurdish authorities
Some 25 candidates are in the running for the presidential election, but two seasoned politicians stand out: Mr. Zebari, and incumbent President Barham Saleh, both from the two rival parties dominating the autonomous region of Kurdistan. Mr. Zebari, who was several times minister in federal power in Baghdad from 2003 to 2016, is a senior official of the influential Democratic Party of Kurdistan (PDK).
First force in the Iraqi Parliament with 73 deputies, the current of the inevitable Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr announced that he was going to boycott Monday’s session. In one of these reversals of which he is accustomed, Mr. Sadr had withdrawn his support for Mr. Zebari on Friday. “If the candidate of the allied PDK does not meet the conditions (…) I call on the deputies of the reform not to vote for him“, he said Friday on Twitter.