“OUTSIDE THE CONSTITUTION”: AN EXPERT REFUTES THE PROPOSAL TO EXTEND THE CARETAKER GOVERNMENT.
A legal expert confirmed on Thursday that the 2005 Iraqi constitution contains no provision allowing the extension of a caretaker government, considering any attempt in this direction to be a departure from the principle of the rotation of power.
Earlier, a source within the coordination framework revealed to Shafaq News Agency that caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had received a proposal to extend his government’s term for one year with specific powers, with the aim of finding a way out of the political deadlock.
According to the source, the proposal will be discussed with the framework leaders in upcoming meetings, amid expectations of differing positions between those who support and those who reject it.
Legal expert Salem Hawas told Shafaq News Agency that “the constitution is completely devoid of any provision that permits the extension of a caretaker government,” explaining that this government is “temporary and restricted by necessity and does not have full authority,” and that its continuation is “exclusively linked to the completion of constitutional requirements, not to political agreements or circumstantial desires.”
He added that “the House of Representatives does not have the authority to extend the term of the executive authority beyond the constitutional terms, because that would be considered an indirect amendment to the constitution,” noting that “the President of the Republic cannot create a term not stipulated, and the Council of Ministers does not extend its own term.”
He added that “the Federal Supreme Court’s role is interpretive and supervisory, not constructive, and it does not have the power to create a new mandate.”
Hawas stressed that “any extension means the continuation of a government with limited powers, which keeps essential decisions, appointments and major contracts subject to constitutional challenge,” stressing that “turning a temporary necessity into a permanent reality deepens the vacuum and does not solve it, and directly clashes with the principle of the rotation of power within specific periods that do not accept disruption or circumvention.”
Al-Sudani had resigned last Sunday (February 8) from his membership in the House of Representatives, after winning the last parliamentary elections that took place in October 2025, and obtaining more than 92,000 votes personally, while his alliance as a whole achieved more than 400,000 votes, with 46 seats.
Al-Maliki reiterated his commitment to running for the position of Prime Minister in the next government, despite American rejection of this, stressing that the selection of the Prime Minister is a national matter subject to the will of the people and constitutional institutions.
It is worth noting that the US State Department revealed to Shafaq News Agency last Thursday a firm and strongly worded stance regarding the upcoming political alliances map in Iraq, stressing that the US administration is prepared to use “a full range of tools” to ensure the implementation of President Donald Trump’s vision regarding the Iraqi file and to prevent Maliki from running for the position of Prime Minister of Iraq.
As reported by Bloomberg News last Tuesday, Washington informed Iraqi officials in recent days that it might reduce Iraq’s access to oil export revenues if Nouri al-Maliki is appointed prime minister, given the United States’ view of him as being close to Iran, which has increased the pressure on the coordination framework, according to observers.