After the cessation of Kurdistan provincial councils... a warning of a “legal vacuum”

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[size=52]After the cessation of Kurdistan provincial councils... a warning of a “legal vacuum”[/size]

[size=45]Reactions continue to the decision of the Federal Supreme Court in Iraq to terminate the work of the Kurdistan Region’s governorate councils due to the expiration of their electoral term, amid warnings of a legal vacuum in local administrations in the region’s governorates.[/size]
[size=45]The head of the Erbil Provincial Council, Ali Rashid, considered the Federal Court’s decision “political,” noting that “it will put us in a state of legal vacuum.”[/size]
[size=45]While the head of the Sulaymaniyah Provincial Council, Azad Muhammad Amin, stressed that this ruling will have negative repercussions on the Kurdistan region.[/size]
[size=45]The Federal Court had decided to “rule the amendment to the law of the governorates of the Kurdistan region of Iraq to be unconstitutional.”[/size]
[size=45]The statement added, “This was in violation of provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Iraq.”[/size]
[size=45]For her part, the head of the New Generation parliamentary bloc, Sarwa Abdel Wahed, said on the X platform: “Based on the lawsuit that we filed, the Federal Court decided that it was unconstitutional to extend the life of the governorate councils in the region. These councils have been receiving salaries illegally for 5 years, so they must She must return every penny she illegally took from the people’s livelihood.”[/size]
[size=45]Last May, the Federal Court issued a similar decision illegalizing the extension of the Kurdistan Regional Parliament, which will hold legislative elections on February 25.[/size]
[size=45]The story of postponement[/size]
[size=45]The first elections for provincial councils throughout Iraq, including the Kurdistan region, were in January 2005, and the duration of that session was until 2009, but the elections for the second round in the region were postponed until April 2014.[/size]
[size=45]The second session of the provincial councils was supposed to expire in 2018, but according to the amendment in both the Parliament Elections Law and the Provincial Councils Elections Law in Kurdistan at the time, the life of this session was extended until new elections were held.[/size]
[size=45]What then?[/size]
[size=45]While the Kurdistan Regional Government has not yet reacted to the decision, observers and experts expect that the period of legal vacuum in the region’s governorate councils will extend until after the end of the parliamentary elections there in February 2024, and then an agreement will be reached on setting a date for local elections in the region.[/size]
[size=45]Iraqi legal expert Muhammad Al-Samarrai said in an interview with Sky News Arabia:[/size]
[size=45]The decision of the Federal Court is consistent with the Constitution, since the aforementioned article gave the right to extend the work of the region’s governorate councils, in violation of the provisions of the Federal Constitution in Articles 2 and 6 thereof, which relate to the inadmissibility of legislating a law that conflicts with the principles of democracy and the peaceful transfer of power.[/size]
[size=45]The regional governorate councils are considered dissolved as of the date of issuance of the Federal Court’s decision, with a guarantee that the legal positions achieved during the entry into force of the Amendment Law are not affected, so that the members of those councils retain their financial dues and salaries, as well as the validity of the decisions issued by those councils until the date of issuance of the Federal Court’s decision.[/size]
[size=45]The decision does not apply retroactively, and salaries and benefits, as well as the financial and legislative decisions taken by those councils during the extension period, remain valid, as we are facing legal centers that cannot be touched, and everything that is taken from them is in implementation of an effective law.[/size]
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