February 9, 2010Iraq poll row to be resolved soon: PM
BAGHDAD Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki said on Monday he has received assurances that judges will resolve a simmering row over who can stand in Iraq’s general election before official campaigning starts on February 12.
Around 100 lawmakers had gathered earlier at parliament for an emergency session to debate a contentious decision to allow hundreds of candidates allegedly linked to Saddam Hussein’s Baath party to stand in the vote.
The meeting was triggered by Maliki after he branded as “illegal” a judicial panel’s ruling that around 500 previously barred candidates could compete in the March 7 vote after all, subject to a post-ballot appeals process.
But the parliament meeting was called off when MPs were told the chamber had received a letter from Maliki that said a judicial panel would complete an appeals process by next Friday, more than three weeks ahead of polling day.
The letter specified that “the panel of judges decided to start immediately the study of the appeals,” Deputy Parliament Speaker Khaled Al Attiya told MPs.
A parliamentary official said the judicial panel had also written to parliament to say it will be able to complete its review of candidates by Friday, when official campaigning is due to start.
The head of the integrity and accountability committee that originally accused the candidates of being Baathists or having other ties to Saddam’s fallen regime said separately that only 177 people have launched appeals.
Ali Al Allami, executive director of the committee, said the number was markedly less than the 511 names originally blacklisted from the vote as many parties had chosen alternative candidates. The volatile election environment was underscored late Sunday when a female candidate was gunned down in the restive northern city of Mosul, 350km from Baghdad, a killing said to be politically motivated.
Agence France-Presse
