BAGHDAD, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- The Iraqi Supreme Court Sunday ordered the deadlocked parliament to get to work, calling the lawmakers' absence unconstitutional.
Iraq has been stalemated since the March 7 elections, when a bloc led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi took a slight lead. Neither he nor current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has since formed a coalition, and parliament has met for only 20 minutes, to be sworn in.
The Supreme Court overruled an earlier decision to delay parliament's return and told the speaker to summon lawmakers to convene parliament and resume work, the BBC reported.
A leading constitutional lawyer told the BBC the decision is a formality that will do nothing to break the deadlock, but it does reflect rising public anger.
Parliament cannot not elect a president, prime minister or speaker until the makeup of the government is decided.
