Iraq's federal court rules against prime minister's reforms

National News

Iraq's federal court ruled on Monday that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's move to abolish the largely ceremonial posts of the country's vice president and deputy prime minister is unconstitutional.

Under Iraq's constitution, abolishing the posts would require the approval of an absolute majority in parliament followed by a national referendum, the court said in a statement.

The decision, which is binding for the Iraqi government, was a slap for al-Abadi, who canceled the posts last year as part of a wide-ranging reform plan that was approved by his Cabinet and passed by Parliament. It was intended to shore up public support for his government in the face of widespread protests.

The cancellations were also an apparent attempt to consolidate power under al-Abadi's government in order to combat corruption and tackle the country's ballooning budget crisis, sparked in part because of a plunge in the price of oil over the past two years, government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi said.

"The return of the (vice president and the deputy prime minister) will affect the expenses of the state," al-Hadithi said.

The decision underscores the government's enduring weakness as Iraqi forces prepare to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group. While the U.S.-led coalition has closely supported Iraq's security forces in the military fight against IS, coalition officials say the Iraqi government is responsible for enacting political reforms that will prevent IS from growing in power in Iraq once again.

Related listings

  • Suspected people smuggler charged in Australian court

    Suspected people smuggler charged in Australian court

    National News 10/01/2016

    An Iranian citizen extradited from Indonesia was charged in a Sydney court on Thursday with attempting to smuggle 73 asylum seekers by boat to Australia. Mohammad Naghi Karimi Azar, 56, on Wednesday became the eighth suspected people smuggler to be e...

  • USC football player accused of rape appears in Utah court

    USC football player accused of rape appears in Utah court

    National News 09/30/2016

    A suspended University of Southern California football player charged with rape in Utah and facing allegations involving the same woman in California was ordered Friday not to contact the alleged victim. Making his first court appearance for the Utah...

  • Bosnian Serbs vote in referendum banned by top court

    Bosnian Serbs vote in referendum banned by top court

    National News 09/21/2016

    Bosnian Serbs on Sunday voted in a referendum banned by the country's constitutional court, risking Western sanctions against their autonomous region and criminal charges against their leaders. The vote was whether to keep Jan. 9 as a holiday in Repu...

East Greenwich, RI Family Law Office

The Law Office of Erica S. Janton offers a wide range of legal services in all areas of family law, encompassing divorce, paternity, adoption, child support, child custody and placement, post judgment modifications, mediation and other related issues.

Erica S. Janton has extensive experience in complex high asset and high conflict family law matters. For the last decade, Erica S. Janton has devoted her career to the family law, first as a mediator and then in her legal career as a family law attorney and mediator. Attorney Janton represents a large variety of clients and has earned a well-regarded reputation for resolving complex custody and high asset, high conflict divorce cases. When providing clients with representation as an attorney, she is a compassionate and staunch advocate who ensures that her clients are well informed of their options and the related process, and prepared for every possible scenario a client may encounter.

Erica S. Janton has extensive experience in complex high asset and high conflict family law matters and uses her experience within the family court arena to individually tailor strategies with each of her clients and provide realistic solution focused results.

Business News


Warning: mysqli::__construct(): (HY000/2002): Can't connect to local server through socket '/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock' (11) in /home/lionsart/public_html/client/html/cls/system/db.php on line 6

Notice: Error: Could not make a database link (2002) Can't connect to local server through socket '/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock' (11) in /home/lionsart/public_html/client/html/cls/system/db.php on line 9

Warning: mysqli::close(): Couldn't fetch mysqli in /home/lionsart/public_html/client/html/cls/system/db.php on line 57