Baghdad ( AsiaNews / Agencies) - Just weeks before parliamentary elections, the Election Commission has resigned in protest over political interference and the brazen exploitation of the judiciary.
The group claims to have received
enormous pressure to interpret the electoral law in a highly selective way. This
would have included excluding candidates without "a good reputation"
from the lists.
For
the judiciary this means a highly restrictive selection of candidates, for parliament
this means only those who have been convicted of crimes should be excluded.
In recent weeks, Baath Party
candidates, still tied to Saddam Hussein, were taken off the list. But also
many political opponents of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, such as the former
Finance Minister Rafa al- Issawi.
Analysts
believe that a greater openness is needed to include the Sunni and Arab
components of society in the parliamentary process, who were marginalized in
previous elections, and are likely to support violent militant groups.
Maliki
and other Shiite politicians however are determined to use an iron fist with militants
who are attempting to resume contacts with Sunnis.
Political
and sectarian tensions are the basis of the current violence in Iraq. This
month at least 400 people were killed in various attacks.