This came, after filing a lawsuit against Zebari on charges of financial corruption, during his tenure as Minister of Finance 2014-2016, and before that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Iraqi parliament was scheduled to proceed with choosing the president according to constitutional timings, during the official session date, which is on Monday, but Zebari’s absence led to the absence of deputies of the “Sadr bloc” led by Muqtada al-Sadr, as well as deputies of the Progress Alliance, headed by Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi. , as well as deputies of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Barzani.
The session turned into a deliberative, without resuming the election of the President of the Republic.
Zebari on investigation radar
The Baghdad Federal Court of Appeal, Karkh, is conducting an investigation into former Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari’s “willful damage to the funds and interests of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while working, by disbursing sums of money as rents to a number of Foreign Ministry employees and protections, in violation of the law, at an amount of 3 billion Iraqi dinars.” , despite the objection of the administrative authorities,” according to the published document.
The “triple alliance” in which Barzani, al-Sadr and al-Halbousi are included is awaiting the Federal Court’s latest decision regarding Zebari’s participation in the presidential race, to hold the parliament session dedicated to electing the president.
The forces of the coordination framework “the political umbrella of the armed militias” found themselves between two candidates, which they did not want to be installed, namely Hoshyar Zebari and the current president, Barham Salih. However, the “tripartite agreement” led to this result.
A leader in the Sadrist movement said: “Our failure to attend Monday’s session came for several considerations, most notably blocking the way in front of the coordinating framework forces, which wanted to disrupt the session, with all its deputies, which is what al-Sadr realized, who made a decision to boycott the president’s election session.”
And the leader, who refused to reveal his name, adds to Sky News Arabia, that “things are moving towards waiting for Hoshyar Zebari. If the Federal Court condemns him, we will ask Barzani to nominate another figure, and then proceed with our agreement, and if he is acquitted, the procedures for his selection will proceed according to charted path.
About 25 people are competing for the presidency of the Iraqi republic, but the competition is actually limited to two, Zebari and the current president, Barham Salih; Because of the custom of distributing senior positions in Iraq and the Kurds’ share in the presidency.
“Solid” alliance behind Zebari
And behind Zebari stands the “triple alliance”, provided that the conditions for candidacy for the upcoming position are met. The leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, called on his deputies in the Iraqi parliament not to elect the Kurdistan Democratic Party candidate in the event that he did not meet the conditions for candidacy for the position, in a move that observers said it means that al-Sadr He resolved his case, and he calls on the Sadrists to exclude Zebari.
However, a phone call that took place after that, between Al-Sadr and Barzani, removed those doubts, while the “Sadrists” boycott of the presidential election session strengthened the strength and cohesion of the “triple alliance.”
In this context, political researcher Imad Muhammad believes that “the failure of members of Parliament to attend the session to elect the president represents a clear violation of the constitution, and this must be ended. He pointed out that “political agreements have become a higher authority than the constitution.”
And the Iraqi researcher adds in a statement to Sky News Arabia, “The next scenarios are to pass the candidate Zebari, by the Federal Court, and we will be here in front of a quick session, to pass the president, or prevent him from running, and condemn him, the Speaker of Parliament will have to open the door for candidacy again to save his ally, the Democratic Party, and allowed him to nominate one of his leaders to be president of the country.
