Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Wednesday called for the emergency meeting of the ruling State Administration Coalition “to discuss the general situation in the country.”
The disagreement between the judicial authorities began when Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily suspended the implementation of three laws concerning a general amnesty, personal status, and the return of land confiscated under the former Baath regime to its original owners.
The Supreme Judicial Council criticized the court the next day, stating that its decision is “premature and irrelevant” because a law “must be published in the Official Gazette before it can be constitutionally challenged.”
The meeting on Saturday will mainly discuss the general amnesty law, which was a Sunni demand, Ahmed al-Issawi, a lawmaker from the National Wisdom Movement led by Shiite cleric Ammar al-Hakim, told Rudaw.
“All fronts agree on the passage of the general amnesty law, because if it were not for an agreement, the amendment would not have been passed in parliament,” Issawi said on Saturday, but warned that “some parties want to manipulate this issue for election campaigning.”
The general amnesty, submitted by Sunni lawmakers, amended the 2016 law’s definition of affiliation with terrorist organizations. This change was a key prerequisite for Sunni blocs to agree to join the ruling State Administration Coalition. Sunnis argue that thousands from their community have been unjustly imprisoned in Shiite-dominated Iraq since 2003 over alleged terrorism links.
The law will come into force and has no legal problems, according to Issawi, who said that “the Shiites will benefit too, not only the Sunnis.”
The three laws have created controversy since they were introduced in the parliament last year. After months of political bickering, the parliament passed all three in a surprise move on January 21.
Hiwa Jamal contributed to this report.
