Iraq’s highest court rejects bid to annul election results | Elections News

Iran-backed factions, including powerful armed groups, had alleged irregularities in October’s parliamentary vote.

Iraq’s top court has rejected an appeal lodged by Iran-backed political parties against the results of a parliamentary election earlier this year, the chief judge said.

The Iran-backed factions, including powerful armed groups, had alleged irregularities in the October 10 vote, in which they performed poorly.

“The Federal Court has decided to reject the complaint aimed at not having the (election) results ratified, and to make the plaintiff bear the costs,” Judge Jassim Mohammed said as he read out the ruling at the court headquarters in the capital, Baghdad, on Monday.

“The verdict is binding on all authorities”.

While the ruling is a key step forward, it does not mean the final results have been ratified, according to an electoral commission lawyer who attended the court hearing.

That requires an official announcement to endorse the results, only after which can the new parliament be inaugurated and a new government – to replace the outgoing cabinet led by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi – formed.

The formation of governments in Iraq has involved long and complex negotiations among Shia, Sunni and Kurdish groups ever since the 2003 United States-led invasion removed Saddam Hussein.

Protests broke out when the election results were announced last month, with the supporters of pro-Iranian groups – who suffered significant losses in the election – clashing with security forces.

The Conquest (Fatah) Alliance – the political arm of the multiparty Hashd al-Shaabi, a pro-Iranian former paramilitary force – won about 15 seats, according to preliminary results. In the last parliament, it held 48, making it the second-largest bloc. Hashd leaders rejected the result as a “fraud”.

The biggest winner in the vote was the movement led by Shia populist leader Muqtada al-Sadr, an opponent of Iranian and United States influence in Iraq, which won 73 seats, more than any other group in the fractious 329-seat house.

The election, which was staged months ahead of schedule, came amid widespread frustration with Iraq’s political elite.

Turnout stood at 41 percent, the lowest since the US-led invasion.