Al-Kazemi calls for calm Al-Sadr supporters hold a sit-in in front of the Judicial Council in Baghdad

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazemi interrupted his visit to Egypt and returned to Baghdad in connection with the development of current events in the country, as well as to directly observe the performance of security forces in their duties to protect the institutions of the judiciary and the state. Following a protest by Sadrist supporters yesterday in front of the Supreme Judicial Council in Baghdad’s Green Zone, Al-Kazemi warned that the disruption of the judiciary was putting the country in real danger and called for the immediate convening of the Supreme Court. leaders of political forces in order to intensify the procedures for a national dialogue, detente the situation, the crisis. Al-Kazemi emphasized, according to the statement, that “the right to demonstrate is guaranteed in accordance with the constitution, with the need to respect state institutions in order to continue their work in the service of the people”, calling for “all political forces to calm down and use the opportunity for national dialogue to lead the country out of the current crisis.” Protesters set up tents in front of the country’s highest judiciary, an AFP correspondent saw, while others were still preparing their tents amid increased security deployments. Some carried Iraqi flags, while others carried pictures of Muqtada al-Sadr. In addition, trucks loaded with large pots of food arrived at the scene. “Our demands are to eradicate corruption,” protester Abu Karrar al-Olaiwi told AFP, adding: “We believe the judiciary is being threatened by fear … or being bribed.” “We are standing here to fulfill our demands, the demands of the Iraqi people, namely reform and the eradication of corruption,” he added. Following the sit-in, the Supreme Judicial Council issued a statement announcing a rally “following an open sit-down demonstration by demonstrators of the Sadrist movement in front of the Supreme Judicial Council demanding the dissolution of the House of Representatives.” by pressuring the Federal Supreme Court to issue a state order to dissolve the House of Representatives and sending threatening phone calls to pressure the court.” And he decided, according to the statement, “to suspend the work of the Supreme Judicial Council, its associated courts and the Federal Supreme Court” in protest against these unconstitutional and illegal actions. In a statement issued on August 14, the Judicial Council considered that “the tasks of the Judicial Council … in their totality are related only to the exercise of the judiciary, and it does not include any powers that allow the judiciary to interfere in matters of the legislative or executive power in the application principle of separation between the three legislative, executive and judicial powers, contained in the constitution. Article 64 of the Iraqi Constitution states that the Council of Representatives shall be dissolved “by an absolute majority of its members, at the request of one-third of its members, or at the request of the Prime Minister and with the approval of the President”. Republic”. In a statement on Tuesday, Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Khalbusi warned of a “suffocating crisis” that is “approaching a lack of legitimacy and could lead to a lack of international recognition for the entire political process”, given that the situation is “regressing more than it was” before the early elections, as “the House of Representatives is suspended, the judiciary is suspended, and the government is a provisional government.”