Democracy News

145 Candidates Remain Banned from Iraq’s Parliamentary Election; Bombings Rock Baghdad
February 24, 2010
By: Randi Zung | Printer Friendly
                                                                         
According to Voice of America, Hamdiya al Husseini, the deputy head of the Iraqi High Electoral Commission, stated that the appeals court has issued its final ruling over the controversial candidate ban, in which 500 candidates were proposed to be banned from Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary election.  The final ruling includes that 145 candidates will be banned because of Baathist ties, but 26 candidates who were accused of Baathist ties that appealed their banning will be allowed to run.  Among the disqualified candidates are Saleh al Mutlak and Dhaver al-Ani, who are viewed as top Sunni political leaders. 

The decision to uphold the ban on some candidates has angered many Iraqi politicians.  Former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who is running in the March election, has now stated that he will suspend his campaign for three days to protest the candidate bans.  Allawi, a Shiite, is an influential member in parliament and is viewed as a major frontrunner in the election. 

The Washington Post reports that Sunni leaders have stated that the “de-Baathification” of the election has further jostled the already fragile political climate in Iraq, and has been done at the expense of discussing more pertinent issues such as restoring security within the region.  The article also states that Sunni leaders are attributing the candidate ban to Shiites’ subservience to Iran.  Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq – an umbrella organization that includes al-Qaeda – identified Sunni candidates who were cooperating with the government as sellouts and urged all Sunnis to join insurgent forces.

On February 13, Reuters reported that a string of bombings wounded seven people in Baghdad.  Bombings took place throughout different regions of the city and all of the explosion sites were offices of political party organizations.  While overall violence in the region has reportedly decreased, the recent bombings are being credited to Al Qaeda and members of Saddam Hussein's outlawed Sunni-dominated Baath party.

The controversial candidate ban began last month when the country’s Justice and Accountability Commission banned more than 500 candidates for their connection to the Baath Party.  According to Iraqi law, individuals who have an allegiance to the Baath Party are not allowed to hold high ranking government jobs.

With the United States scheduled to withdraw from the region in 2011, both US and Iraqi officials are hoping that the upcoming election will help to reinforce both democratic participation and governance in Iraq.  The parliamentary vote is scheduled to take place on March 7.

Sources:

Washington Post - 145 candidates ineligible because of alleged Baathist ties, Iraq says

Reuters - String of Iraq bomb attacks target poll candidates