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Iraq leaders pressure high court to rule on suspected Baath party candidates ban

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Iraqi leaders on Saturday urged the country's Supreme Court to rule on the recent electoral appeals panel decision allowing about 500 candidates who had been banned for alleged ties to the outlawed Baath party to run in the March 7 parliamentary elections. The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has turned to the Iraq Supreme Court questioning whether last week's ruling is binding. A high-level meeting with judicial officials, which included Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Parliament Speaker Ayad al-Sammaraie, resulted in a call for the controversy to be resolved by February 12, when the four-week election campaign period kicks off. The Iraqi Parliament has been summoned to an emergency session Sunday to debate whether to postpone the scheduled March 7 elections. On Thursday, the IHEC postponed the parliamentary elections campaign, originally set to begin Sunday, for five days. Spokesperson for Iraq's Shi'ite government Ali Al-Dabbagh has called last week's decision to allow the candidates to run illegal and unconstitutional. Under the ruling, candidates would only be allowed to take office after their alleged ties are investigated. In December 2008, Iraq arrested 23 interior ministry officials for allegedly attempting to rebuild the Baath party. The Iraqi De-Baathification Commission, established in 2003, has prompted the removal of approximately 30,000 alleged Baathists from public life. In 2008, Iraq adopted the Accountability and Justice law, which allows most former Baathists to be reinstated into public life.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 07, 2010 (boomark / email).