BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Supreme Federal Court has ruled that former foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari is not eligible to run for the presidency amid corruption allegations, the state news agency reported on Sunday, a move that prolongs a political standoff. Zebari, a prominent Kurdish politician who served as Iraq’s foreign minister for more than a decade, called the court’s decision “an injustice”.
He was finance minister when he was sacked by parliament in 2016 over alleged corruption. He denied the accusations and said they are politically motivated.
The court said a decision by parliament to accept his presidential bid was incorrect and it also barred him from running for the post in the future, the agency said.
The ruling was the court’s final decision after it issued an initial ruling last week suspending Zebari’s candidacy while it looked into the corruption allegations.
“We were surprised by our exclusion from our right to nominate,” Zebari said in a news conference on Sunday following the ruling.
“We respect the judiciary, but I have the right to say that there has been injustice and arbitrariness in the decision.”
Earlier this month, four parliamentarians filed a petition to the federal court demanding Zebari’s exclusion from the presidential race, accusing him of financial and administrative corruption.
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