Iraq’s top court rejects bid to dissolve Kurdistan Region parliament

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court on Monday threw out a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the Kurdistan Region’s parliament, ruling that the case fell outside its jurisdiction.

The court postponed to Dec. 14 a separate case that asks it to declare the Kurdistan Regional Government a caretaker government. The suit seeks to limit the government to essential day-to-day decisions and bar it from strategic decisions on oil, gas, electricity, natural resources and financial commitments.

The court heard three cases concerning the Kurdistan Region at Monday’s session. The third asks it to rule that the continuation of the parliament’s current term, its sixth, is unconstitutional. 964media could not confirm whether the court ruled on it.

The cases target a regional government and parliament that have been stalled since the Kurdistan Region’s Oct. 20, 2024, election. The Kurdistan Democratic Party won 39 of the 100 seats, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan 23 and New Generation 15, leaving no party with a majority.

The parliament held its first session on Dec. 2, 2024, but has yet to elect a speaker. The ninth cabinet, led by Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and sworn in on July 10, 2019, remains in office. The plaintiffs in the caretaker cases argue that its term ended on July 10, 2023.

The Federal Supreme Court ruled in May 2023 that the previous parliament’s one-year extension of its own term was unconstitutional, ending that parliament’s mandate.

Talks between the KDP and the PUK on a new cabinet have repeatedly failed over power-sharing and senior posts.