Allawi might seek new elections

Iraq’s ex-premier Iyad Allawi has called for a caretaker government and new elections as more winner candidates from his Iraqiya bloc are barred from taking office.

“We will demand the formation of a temporary government, a caretaker government that will take into their responsibility the … conducting elections,” Allawi told al-Sharqiya television channel.

The demand comes as a number of candidates on Allawi’s slate have been barred from taking office because of alleged links with outlawed Ba’ath party.

Al-Iraqiya ended up as the winner of the key parliamentary elections held on March 7 with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law alliance following on its heels.

A three-judge panel attached to Iraq’s election commission soon ordered a manual recount of the vote in Baghdad after a complaint filed by Maliki’s alliance.

The judicial panel on Monday banned an elected Iraqiya candidate from the parliament for his alleged Ba’ath links.

The panel is expected to rule on nine other elected lawmakers accused of having been members of the executed dictator Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath party.

Allawi called on the United Nations and other international organizations to support his demand for a caretaker government and a new vote, should his bloc suffer more losses.

The West, led by the United States, has been critical of Baghdad’s ban on Ba’ath-linked candidates, warning against a recount.

Meanwhile, many Iraqis fear Washington, given its military presence in the country, could help the notorious Ba’ath party back to the country’s political stage, which would spell another “dark age” for them.