Baghdad: The Sunni wing of Iraq's leading non-sectarian political coalition is dropping out of next month's elections, saying the vote will be illegitimate because of a Shi’ite-ordered ballot purge of hundreds of candidates.
A statement on Saturday by the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue stopped short of urging Sunnis to boycott the March 7 Parliamentary Elections.
But it invited other political parties to withdraw. At least one, the National Council for Tribes of Iraq, said it would.
The Front for a National Dialogue is headed by Sunni lawmaker Saleh al-Mutlaq.
He was barred from running for re-election after a Shi’ite vetting panel accused him of having ties to Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party. Al-Mutlaq has said he quit the party in the 1970s.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, February 20, 2010, 15:40