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| Iraq |
| Iraq delays ruling on election candidate ban |
| 2010-04-28 |
| BAGHDAD - A potentially divisive ruling by an Iraqi review panel on whether to wipe out the votes of nine winning candidates from last month's election has been delayed, possibly until next week, officials said on Tuesday. On Monday, the panel threw the Iraqi political process into turmoil after invalidating votes cast for 52 other candidates in the March 7 ballot, which produced no outright winner and left the country adrift in a political vacuum. One winning candidate for Iraqiya was affected by Monday's ruling. But members of the alliance, led by ex-premier Iyad Allawi, expect no change in its final tally of parliamentary seats because the candidate would be replaced by the next Iraqiya nominee in line in the same constituency. A separate decision that had been expected on Tuesday over the fate of nine winning candidates was seen as more significant and more likely to affect the result. “It has been postponed till Monday,' said Faraj al-Haidari, head of the Independent High Electoral Commission. Other politicians said they thought the review panel might return to the case on Wednesday. “What we heard is that it has been delayed until tomorrow, but as they say, no one knows how far away tomorrow is,' said Mustafa al-Hiti, a senior member of Iraqiya. The decision, when it comes, is not subject to appeal. |
| Posted by:Steve White |