Iraq's Top Court Terminates Parliament Speaker's Tenure

Political Shake-Up Ahead of Provincial Elections as Al-Halbousi's Party Protests Ruling

Iraq's Federal Supreme Court has terminated the tenure of Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi and lawmaker Laith al-Dulaimi, without providing a reason.
The decision is final and not subject to appeal, leading to a political shakeup ahead of Iraq's scheduled provincial elections on December 18.
Al-Halbousi, the highest Sunni official in Iraq, has called the decision 'strange' and suggested it violated the constitution and undermined national stability.
The court's decision came against the backdrop of a dispute between al-Halbousi and al-Dulaimi, with the latter accusing the former of forging his signature on a resignation letter, an allegation al-Halbousi denied.
Following the ruling, al-Halbousi's party announced that its representatives in the federal government would resign in protest, and its members of Parliament would resign from parliamentary committees and boycott parliamentary sessions.