Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Saleh al-Mutlak, banned in Iraq
Seven hundred billion dollars and more than 4,200 American lives later, the government of Iraq is on the verge of conducting an election already being labeled illegitimate. Sunnis who once belonged to Saddam Hussein’s political party have been banned from running for parliament in March, according to two wings of the national government controlled by Shiites.
First, the Accountability and Justice Commission decided that more than 500 Sunni candidates couldn’t run for office because of their alleged ties to the now-outlawed Baath party. Not wanting to have the election branded a fraud, U.S. officials supported Iraqis who appealed the commission’s decision to an Iraqi court. But the judges sided with the commission. One of the many Sunnis prevented from participating in next month’s election is Saleh al-Mutlak, a member of parliament, who said next month’s results won’t be “credible.”
Of the 500 banned candidates, 177 appealed their rejection. Twenty-eight were accepted, but 149 were rejected again.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Iraq’s Campaign Season Opens With Controversy (by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, National Public Radio)
Iraq Officials Confirm Sunni Candidate Ban (by Muhanad Mohammed, Washington Post)
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