All members of Iraq election commission resign

Members of the Iraqi election commission have resigned collectively in protest to what they call political pressure and judicial interference.

The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) made the sudden decision on Tuesday, five weeks ahead of the country’s parliamentary elections next month.

The nine-member panel said it was caught between conflicting rulings from parliament and the judiciary on banning would-be candidates from running in the upcoming general election.

Several candidates have been barred over the past weeks due to ties to former dictator Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath party.

The resignations need to be approved by parliament.

However, Iraq’s major parties insist that the April 30 elections must be held on schedule.

The IHEC’s move comes at a time when Iraq is experiencing a surge in violence with al-Qaeda-linked militants regaining momentum, especially in the country’s west.

Among the militant groups is the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has been fighting against security forces in the western province of Anbar.

Violence erupted in Anbar in December 2013, when security forces cleared a camp that the government said was used by militants for launching terrorist attacks.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has blamed Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the security crisis and growing terrorism and sectarian violence in Iraq, and denounced Riyadh as a major supporter of global terrorism.

Some 2,100 people have been killed across Iraq since the beginning of 2014.

According to figures released by the United Nations, at least 8,000 people lost their lives in the country last year, which was the highest death toll since a peak of violence in the country in 2007.