Allawi’s lead is now in jeopardy
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Allawi’s lead is now in jeopardy
Shilo Tue Mar 30, 2010 3:23 pm
March 31, 2010
BAGHDAD: A commission with responsibility for stopping former Baath Party loyalists from returning to public life in Iraq has mounted a challenge to the country’s recent election, saying six candidates who won seats had been banned from standing.
The Accountability and Justice Commission played a prominent role before the election this month, outlawing dozens of candidates and sparking fears of another mass Sunni boycott, as well as concerns that it had a political agenda.
The six candidates were banned on the eve of the election. Ali Faisal al-Lami, the commission’s head, who was a losing Shia contender in the poll, refused to reveal their names. However, it is understood at least three are in the Iraqiya party of Iyad Allawi, whose two-seat victory over his rival Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister before the election, gave him the stronger claim on forming a government.
If Mr Allawi were to lose three of his 91 seats and Mr Maliki to remain at 89 seats, Iraqiya would lose its narrow majority. This would significantly change the political balance of power that is beginning to emerge.
The vanquished Mr Maliki shows signs that he will not fade away, describing as ”impossible” Mr Allawi’s attempts to build a coalition. Mr Maliki made the comment in a television interview, in which he also said ”the game is still very much on”, in relation to who will be Iraq’s new leader.
The Sunni minority, which has potentially won its broadest representation in parliament since the fall of Saddam, reacted angrily to the challenge, saying it was a blatant attempt to overturn a credible electoral process and reinstate a conservative Shia regime.
”The election was credible and our claim to power is totally legitimate,” said Osama al-Najafi, the leading Sunni candidate, who won strong support in Sunni provinces.
”Iraq does not need instability like this and is absolutely not stable enough to deal with it.”
Other warnings by Sunni clerics and public figures suggested renewed violence was inevitable if Iraqiya was stripped of its win.
Mr Lami – who has been accused by Ray Odierno, the US commanding general in Iraq, of being linked to Iranian special interest groups and to the Sadrist movement – said the commission would take its challenge to Iraq’s highest court.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/allawis-lead-is-now-in-jeopardy-20100330-rbkt.html
BAGHDAD: A commission with responsibility for stopping former Baath Party loyalists from returning to public life in Iraq has mounted a challenge to the country’s recent election, saying six candidates who won seats had been banned from standing.
The Accountability and Justice Commission played a prominent role before the election this month, outlawing dozens of candidates and sparking fears of another mass Sunni boycott, as well as concerns that it had a political agenda.
The six candidates were banned on the eve of the election. Ali Faisal al-Lami, the commission’s head, who was a losing Shia contender in the poll, refused to reveal their names. However, it is understood at least three are in the Iraqiya party of Iyad Allawi, whose two-seat victory over his rival Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister before the election, gave him the stronger claim on forming a government.
If Mr Allawi were to lose three of his 91 seats and Mr Maliki to remain at 89 seats, Iraqiya would lose its narrow majority. This would significantly change the political balance of power that is beginning to emerge.
The vanquished Mr Maliki shows signs that he will not fade away, describing as ”impossible” Mr Allawi’s attempts to build a coalition. Mr Maliki made the comment in a television interview, in which he also said ”the game is still very much on”, in relation to who will be Iraq’s new leader.
The Sunni minority, which has potentially won its broadest representation in parliament since the fall of Saddam, reacted angrily to the challenge, saying it was a blatant attempt to overturn a credible electoral process and reinstate a conservative Shia regime.
”The election was credible and our claim to power is totally legitimate,” said Osama al-Najafi, the leading Sunni candidate, who won strong support in Sunni provinces.
”Iraq does not need instability like this and is absolutely not stable enough to deal with it.”
Other warnings by Sunni clerics and public figures suggested renewed violence was inevitable if Iraqiya was stripped of its win.
Mr Lami – who has been accused by Ray Odierno, the US commanding general in Iraq, of being linked to Iranian special interest groups and to the Sadrist movement – said the commission would take its challenge to Iraq’s highest court.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/allawis-lead-is-now-in-jeopardy-20100330-rbkt.html
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