Iraqis protest potential Baath return to elections
Thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets in the southern city of Karbala to protest at the return of hundreds of barred candidates accused of alleged links with Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party to run in the country’s parliamentary elections.
The protestors demanded Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other senior authorities to stand with the Iraqi people against the return of Baathists and purge all Saddam’s loyalists, who are included in law of the Accountability and Justice Commission, from working in the government institutions.
The protest came as an appeals panel has been formed at the request of the Iraqi parliament to look into the charges of hundreds of banned candidates accused of links to the defunct Baath party.
The ban list, submitted early last month by the Accountability and Justice Commission in charge of vetting the candidates, has the names of some prominent Sunni lawmakers including Saleh al-Mutlaq, head of the National Dialogue Front. The party joins with other secular parties to contest in the elections.
On Saturday, top Iraqi leaders met in the prime minister’s office and agreed that the appeals panel should get the required details to look into the evidences of the charges against the barred candidates.
The Iraqi parliament will convene for an extra-ordinary session on February 12, at the request of Maliki, to discuss the appeals panel’s decision of allowing hundreds of banned candidates from participation in the country’s elections.
Several politicians including Prime Minister Maliki have strongly criticized the ruling as illegal. President Jalal Talabani says the Baathists’ return to politics will bring dictatorship back to Iraq.
