Iraq's supreme court ratifies Oct 10 election results
After a long wait and protests, the Iraqi Supreme Court has ratified the legislative election results of October 10 - but not everyone is happy about it.
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Iraq's supreme court ratifies, after two months, has finally ratified the elections.
On Monday, Iraq's supreme court ratified the results of the Iraqi legislative elections which took place on October 10 after rejecting a motion by the Fatah alliance that was at odds with the defeat in the polls.
With the ratification, a new parliament can hold its inaugural session within two weeks, according to Iraqi law.
"The Federal Supreme Court has ratified the results of the legislative elections," its media officer announced in a brief statement.
Abide despite disdain
Today, Monday, Hadi Al-Amiri, head of the Al-Fateh Alliance, stressed that he will abide by the Federal Court's decision, "despite our deep and firm belief that the electoral process was marred by a lot of fraud and manipulation."
Al-Amiri said in a statement that this commitment comes "out of our keenness to abide by the constitution and the law, our fear for Iraq's security and political stability, and our belief in the political process and its democratic path through the peaceful exchange of power through election boxes."
He pointed out that "the appeals that we submitted to the Federal Court were courteous, logical and acceptable, and if submitted to any constitutional court in any country that respects democracy, it would have been sufficient to annul the election results," adding that "with all this, we affirm our commitment to the decision of the Federal Court, which was subjected to very great external and internal pressures."
Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Sadrist movement in Iraq, thanked "everyone who contributed to the national democratic wedding," calling for "accelerating the formation of a national majority government, neither eastern nor western."
Protests earlier today
Earlier today, Iraq was awaiting the judicial ruling on the parliamentary elections, while the Federal Court, which is in charge of ratifying the election results, was preparing its latest ruling on the appeals to the results.
Hours ahead of the court ruling, demonstrators opposing the results gathered for demonstrations near the Green Zone in Baghdad.
They set tires on fire near the gate to the Green Zone and blocked several roads, causing traffic congestion in the capital.
A deliberation session is currently taking place in the court ahead of announcing the final ruling on the appeals, Al Mayadeen correspondent reported.
"The Federal Court's decision on the appeals will be announced today after two postponements," the correspondent added.
