Around 500 candidates barred from Iraq's March 7 general election for alleged links to executed dictator Saddam Hussein were told Wednesday they can stand after all, paving the way towards a smooth vote.
The blacklist sparked tensions between the country's Shiite majority and its Sunni Arab former elite, alarming the White House and the United Nations who both expressed concerns about the election's credibility in recent weeks.
The appeals panel decided to allow the banned candidates to participate in the next election and decided to postpone looking into the case until after the election
However, a senior election official told AFP the barred candidates, who include people accused of membership of Saddam's outlawed Baath party, can take part in the vote, subject to a post-ballot appeals procedure.
"The appeals panel decided to allow the banned candidates to participate in the next election and decided to postpone looking into the case until after the election," Hamdiya al-Husseini, a member of the Independent High Electoral Commission, said.
"The appeal court will look at their file after the election," and if they find them to have links to Saddam's outlawed Baath party, "they will be eliminated," she said.
The blacklist was compiled last month by The Justice and Accountability Commission, an integrity and accountability committee responsible for ensuring that individuals from the former regime do not take part.
It is headed by Ali al-Allami, an ally of Ahmed Chalabi, a key U.S. ally when he spearheaded the case for war against Saddam, which was launched on the grounds that the dictator had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction.
"I cannot do anything but accept the decision," Allami told AFP following Husseini's comments.
Chalabi, who has close ties to Iran, was appointed deputy prime minister after the invasion but intelligence he provided in support of those claims in the run-up to war later turned out to be flawed and he subsequently fell out of favor with Washington.
I cannot do anything but accept the decision
The U.N. secretary general's envoy to Iraq, Ad Melkert, said on Wednesday that the country must strike a balance between the need to exclude Saddam's former allies and ensuring a free and fair poll.
They must "balance the critical need for justice and accountability of those that have in the past been part of oppressive regimes and the need for peace, reconciliation and inclusion in the democratic process," Melkert said.
The Justice and Accountability Commission's original list of 511 candidates, since whittled down somewhat, included prominent Sunni politician Saleh al-Mutlaq, who openly courted the votes of people feeling nostalgic for the stability and greater public safety of the Saddam Hussein years.
Under the Sunni dictator, the Baath party killed thousands of Shiites and Kurds in crackdowns. Iraq's "de-Baathification" rules were originally drawn up by U.S. administrators after Saddam was driven from power in 2003.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis died in the sectarian warfare between Shiites and Sunnis that hit its peak in 2006-07, but overall violence has subsided over the last two years.
Comments »