Samarraie rejects U.S. proposal to exclude “Baathists” after election

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Parliament Speaker Iyad al-Samarraie on Saturday expressed his rejection of a U.S. proposal to allow those barred by the Accountability and Justice Commission to run in the upcoming election. “On Saturday noon, Samarraie received U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to discuss the recent developments on the political scene in the run-up to the public election…,” according to a statement released by his media office and received by IraqiNews.com news agency. Samarraie his reiterated his rejection of a proposal to exclude those included in the commission’s decision after the polls, scheduled to take place on March 7, 2010, the statement pointed out. The Accountability and Justice Commission had banned 511 candidates from running in the upcoming parliamentary election, citing their alleged affiliation to the dissolved Baath Party. Those banned included the head of the National Dialogue Front, Saleh al-Mutlak. The commission’s decision has evoked varied reactions in Iraq and the United States. In a phone call with Samarraie, Biden had suggested that those candidates who have been barred should disavow and condemn the Baath party and be allowed to run in the election. SS (P)/SR 2