Iraq: Kurdish candidate ‘respects’ court decision to suspend presidential bid

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) candidate for the presidential election in Iraq said on Sunday that he “respects” the Supreme Court’s decision to temporarily suspend his candidacy, Anadolu has reported. Hoshyar Zebari’s campaign was suspended due to “corruption claims” against him, a day before the Iraqi parliament was due to vote on the position.

The Supreme Court said it had received a complaint from MPs that Zebari’s candidacy was “unconstitutional” because of the corruption claims dating back to 2016. It added that the suspension is “temporary” while the court considers the case.

In 2016, 68-year-old Zebari was removed from his position as finance minister after financial and administrative corruption allegations. He is one of two main contenders for the presidency. The other favoured candidate is the incumbent, Barham Saleh.

“We are confident the court will insist on implementing the rules and conditions for the position of the Iraqi presidency,” said Zebari on Twitter, “otherwise this will be just a case of using power.”

The Sadrist Movement announced on Saturday that it has suspended negotiations to form a new government and will not attend the upcoming session of the Iraqi Parliament.

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