Ruling puts Iraq election in disarray

Iraq's government called today for a special session of parliament and branded as illegal an appeals panel decision to suspend…

Iraq's government called today for a special session of parliament and branded as illegal an appeals panel decision to suspend a ban on candidates suspected of ties to an outlawed party until after an election.

Political wrangling is heating up ahead of the March 7th vote, seen as a crucial test for Iraq as it emerges from years of conflict unleashed by the 2003 US invasion and tries to make peace between once dominant Sunnis and the Shia majority.

The appeals panel said candidates barred by the Justice and Accountability Commission - set up to ensure Saddam Hussein's Baath party did not return to public life - could stand in the poll, but would still have a case to answer.

"Post-poning implementing the law of the Justice and Accountability Commission until after the election is illegal and not constitutional," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement on his website.

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It was unclear if the government could contest the panel's decision - much of the process of banning the candidates has involved creative interpretations of the law and the legality of the commission that drew up the list is also in question.

Hamdiya al-Husseini, an official with the Independent High Electoral Commission, said the body had asked a high court to rule on whether it was required to abide by the panel's decision, and that the start of campaigning would be delayed.

"The (start of) election campaigning has been postponed from February 7th to February 12th to give time to the federal court to look into our inquiry," she said.

Officials said prime minister Nuri al-Maliki had called on politicians to discuss the dispute in parliament, which would meet on Sunday in an extraordinary session.

The appellate panel's decision was rejected by Shia parties, which along with minority Kurds bore the brunt of Baath party oppression under the rule of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.

"It is a betrayal of the people and the blood which poured in Saddam's era and after the occupation," cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said in a statement on his website.

"It will be a stigma to the forehead of the miserable government," said Sadr, whose fiery anti-American message mobilised millions of poor Shias after the invasion.

Some suspected US interference. The panel's decision mirrored a proposal by US Vice President Joe Biden.

Iraq's "de-Baathification" rules were originally drawn up by US administrators after Saddam was driven from power in 2003.

The candidate ban was seen by many Sunnis as a conspiracy by Shia-led groups to keep them from a fair share of power even though the list has more Shia names and a

disproportionate number from smaller, cross-sectarian alliances.

Sunni politician Saleh al-Mutlaq, who is on the list, said the appellate body's decision was a "victory" for the Iraqi people.

Sunnis largely boycotted the last national vote in 2005, and their resentment fuelled a bloody insurgency. Weary of the bloodshed, politicians have tried to be more cross-sectarian.

Amid the simmering row over candidates, attacks on Shia pilgrims on a religious trek are adding to sectarian tensions, which have eased since their peak in 2006-7.

While leaders in Baghdad issued denunciations, some Shia pilgrims in the holy city of Kerbala welcomed the move, despite a spate of attacks by suspected Sunni Islamist extremists.

"The Baath party died when Saddam died," said Ali Adel, a 48-year-old a civil servant. "We cannot implement Saddam's policy of excluding others. Politicians should learn a lesson from Saddam if they want to build Iraq in a correct way."

Reuters