Baghdad: Iraqi leaders have pushed the country`s highest court to issue a quick ruling on hundreds of candidates who have been banned from running in March elections, warning that Parliament will settle the controversy if the judges don`t.
With lawmakers headed back to Baghdad for an emergency parliamentary session, an adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the court has until Sunday afternoon to decide how to handle the dispute that risks alienating Sunni voters.
"If the appeals court says soon that they will settle the matter, then there is no need for the parliament session," al-Maliki adviser Yasin Majeed said.
At issue is about 450 candidates accused of being loyalists to Saddam Hussein`s Baathist regime. They were banned from running on the March 7 ballot by a Shi’ite-led vetting panel that is widely seen as targeting Sunnis, even though Shi’ites also are on the blacklist.
The Baathist Party has been outlawed in Iraq. Al-Maliki met yesterday with Parliament Speaker Ayad al-Sammaraie, Chief Justice Madhat Al-Mahmood and other government officials to discuss the controversy.
Majeed said all agreed that the dispute must be settled before the campaign season officially begins on February 12.
PTI
