Iraq’s top court invalidates Abadi’s partial cabinet reshuffle
A top Iraqi court on Tuesday declared unconstitutional a parliament session in which deputies had approved a partial cabinet reshuffle, scrapping Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's clearest gain in a months-long political crisis. The judgment is a setback for Abadi's bid to replace ministers - chosen to balance Iraq's divisions along party, ethnic and sectarian lines […]A top Iraqi court on Tuesday declared unconstitutional a parliament session in which deputies had approved a partial cabinet reshuffle, scrapping Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's clearest gain in a months-long political crisis.
The judgment is a setback for Abadi's bid to replace ministers - chosen to balance Iraq's divisions along party, ethnic and sectarian lines - with technocrats. He has warned that delays to the process could hamper the war against Islamic State which controls much of north and west Iraq.
A dozen disruptive lawmakers forced nearly 200 other MPs to leave the main chamber on April 26 and vote in a separate hall to approve Abadi's appointment of five ministers as part of an anti-corruption push.
Dissenting MPs had blocked the vote for weeks, and days later supporters of powerful Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stormed the parliament complex, hindering progress for several more weeks.
Parliament's decision in April "cannot be considered valid even if the required quorum of MPs were present," a statement from the Federal Court said, without explaining the legal justification.
