The Federal Supreme Court in Baghdad calls for the dissolution of regional councils in Iraqi Kurdistan. At issue: the elections which should have been organized since June 2018 to renew their mandates never took place.
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With our correspondent in Iraq, Marie-Charlotte Roupie
In Erbil, this decision sounds like a new advance by Baghdad against the autonomy of Iraqi Kurdistan. Disagreements between Kurdish parties blocked the organization of elections in the three provinces of Kurdistan in June 2018. But since then nothing has been done. The Federal Supreme Court therefore finds it unconstitutional for the Kurdish regional councils to continue their activities.
This is the second time this year that she has intervened in the politics of autonomous Kurdistan. Last May, the one-year extension of the mandate of the Kurdish Parliament was also deemed unconstitutional.
Result: the next parliamentary elections will be held under the control of Baghdad and not under the leadership of a regional electoral commission. At the same time, the federal government regained control of oil exports from northern fields. Analysts agree that Iraqi Kurdistan is gradually losing its sovereign powers and therefore its autonomy.