Page 6 - Al-Rashed Newsletter August 2022

IRAQ NEWS

‘No authority’: Iraq judiciary says it cannot dissolve parliament

Iraq’s top judicial body says it does not have the authority to dissolve the
country’s parliament, days after influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr escalated a
political standoff by giving it one week to dismiss the legislature so new
elections can be held. The decision is likely to increase tensions between
Iran-backed groups in the Coordination Framework and al-Sadr’s followers,
who repeatedly stormed the parliament and suspended a session to
nominate a new prime minister. The Supreme Judicial Council does not have
the authority to dissolve parliament,” it said in a statement, adding it cannot
“interfere in the work of the legislative or executive authorities”. Al-Sadr,
whose political bloc won the largest number of seats in parliament in October
but failed to form a majority government that excluded his Iran-aligned rivals,
tweeted on Wednesday that the judiciary had one week to dissolve the
legislature. He called on his followers Saturday night to be ready to hold
massive protests all over Iraq, raising concerns over new tensions, but did
not set a date for the demonstrations.
Iraq is now in its 10th month of political impasse, the longest in the country
since the 2003 United States-led invasion reset the political order. The road
map ahead is unclear as parliament has exceeded the constitutional timeline
for forming a new government following the vote.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/14/iraqi-judiciary-says-it-has-no-powers-to-dissolve-parliament

Heatwaves scorch Iraq as protracted political crisis grinds on

Under Iraq’s blistering summer heat, thousands gathered inside Baghdad’s
Green Zone for mass prayer on Friday. Some wrapped their faces in cloths
soaked in water, others brought bottled water to pour over their heads, many
carried umbrellas – all in an effort to bring some relief from the scorching
heat. As the sun beat down on the crowds of thousands packed into the
largely uncovered square in central Baghdad, some began to faint. “It was
so hot,” Haafez Alobaidi told Al Jazeera after the prayer called by influential
Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr. “When the air was still, I felt like I was being
roasted in an oven,” Alobaidi said. “When there was breeze, it felt like a
hairdryer was blowing in my face … full force,” he said. “You thought living in
Iraq would make you get used to this kind of weather, but no, no human
beings should live in this weather.” Heatwaves are sweeping across Iraq.
Temperatures have soared up to nearly 50 degrees Celsius in Baghdad
almost daily, and in the southern city of Basra, temperatures have come
close to 53 degrees – dangerously high in a country that has a chronic lack
of basic infrastructure and services, and is also embroiled in a political crisis.
Every summer, Iraq experiences heatwaves of varying intensities, and this
year is no exception. But this year the intense heat has also been
exacerbated by a heated political crisis: A deadlock in parliament that has
paralysed the country, including leaving Iraq without a government budget to
properly allocate expenses to essential services such as the electricity
supply.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/kuwait-appoints-new-prime-minister/2640418
l