IHEC says all banned candidates to run in election

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) on Wednesday said that those who had been banned under the Accountability and Justice Commission’s law would be allowed to participate in the country’s upcoming parliamentary election. “The cassation authority will postpone its examination of the appeals and allow candidates included in the Accountability and Justice Commission’s law to participate in the election,” the semi-official al-Iraqiya TV quoted an IHEC official, Hamdiya al-Husseini, as saying. Parliamentary polls are scheduled to take place in Iraq on March 7, 2010. The commission had banned hundreds of candidates from running in the upcoming legislative election, citing their alleged affiliation to the dissolved Baath Party. The commission’s decision evoked varied reactions in Iraq and the United States. SS (P) 2