Iraqi Court Overturns Ban on Candidates
February 4, 2010
By: Paul Larson

The Iraqi Supreme Federal Court has overturned a ban on 511 candidates, who were are accused of supporting Saddam Hussein’s Baathist Party, allowing them to run in elections later this year. The New York Times calls this move the first show of an independent judiciary in the new Iraqi government, yet Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki called the move unconstitutional.

Prime Minister Maliki further called for the election commission to ignore the Court’s decision, according to Iraq’s state television network.  Mr. Maliki has asked Parliament to consider options in response to the court decision. 

The court’s justification for allowing the candidates to run for office has not been released.  The Accountability and Justice Commission, which is the body responsible for originally banning candidates, has also revealed little about why they banned approximately one-sixth of the candidates from running.  The candidates who were banned are also mostly Sunnis.  The disparity brought on threats of a boycott, a move that would have landed a damaging blow to the legitimacy of the results.

The court said it would reconsider the ban after the March 7th elections, according to the New York Times, raising concerns about possibly removing candidates after being elected to office by a majority vote.

Sources:

BBC News - Iraq elections in disarray after court ruling

New York Times - Ban on Hundreds of Iraqi Candidates Overturned

Wall Street Journal - Iraq Delays Start of Parliamentary Election Campaigns

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