The Iraqi federal court has ruled that it is not possible to delay the country's general elections, in an attempt to put an end to the debate of political parties over the postponement of the elections. The Federal Supreme Court has issued an "interpretative decision" for article 56 of the Iraqi constitution, indicating that the timeframe for electing members of the new parliament in that article must be respected, Ayas al-Samouk, head of the press office of the court , he said in a brief statement. The court's decision came just hours after the Iraqi parliament made a request to the court to interpret the constitution's article asking if it was possible to postpone elections as requested by some political blocs, Samouk said. On Thursday, the Iraqi parliament did not approve the May 12 general election date amid intense debate among the political blocs. On Wednesday, the Sunni grand parliamentary coalition called for the postponement of general elections for six months to allow hundreds of thousands of Sunni displaced people to return home to vote after the liberation of their cities and towns from the Islamic State. "The voter registration update is currently no more than 2% of the total eligible voters of the Nineveh province and if it goes ahead (for the May 12 elections), it will not reach 15% of the total voters," Ahmed al-Jubouri , a Sunni lawmaker for Minime province, told Xinhua. Jubouri noted that the elections in such circumstances will result in weaker representation for Arabs, 82 percent of the provincial population of Nineveh, and most of the parliamentary seats will go in favor of other minorities. "This will draw a new political map in the province and the Arab majority will be the biggest victim," added Jubouri. Previously, the cabinet of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in coordination with the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq decided on May 12 as the date for the next elections. According to the Iraqi constitution, parliamentary elections must be held at least 45 days before the end of the current legislature. The election date must be ratified later by the current parliament prior to approval by the Presidential Council to be fully approved. Iraq's previous general elections took place on April 30, 2014, when Iraqis elected 328 MPs to parliament, who in turn elected Abadi to form an inclusive government of the Shia, Kurdish and Sunni alliance.
