Iraqi Rules for Candidacy Spur Some U.S. Concern
/Free Elections in Iraq?
To run for a seat in the Iraqi National Assembly in the elections scheduled for January, candidates must meet conditions set by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq that are far more severe than any requirements for election to the U.S. Congress or most other elected bodies in this country. For example, candidates must have "at least a secondary school diploma or equivalent," a "good reputation" and not been convicted of "a crime involving moral turpitude," according to the regulations of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI). In addition, candidates cannot have been a member of Saddam Hussein's secret police, nor "contributed to or participated in the persecution of citizens," nor have made money "in an illegitimate manner at the expense of the homeland and public finance." The regulations are based on sections of the Transition Administrative Law (TAL), drafted under the direction of then-Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority administrator, L. Paul Bremer III. They have raised concerns among U.N. and U.S. officials that Iraq's interim government may try to eliminate candidates through pressure on the electoral commission, whose members were selected by the United Nations but approved by the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council. [more]
To run for a seat in the Iraqi National Assembly in the elections scheduled for January, candidates must meet conditions set by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq that are far more severe than any requirements for election to the U.S. Congress or most other elected bodies in this country. For example, candidates must have "at least a secondary school diploma or equivalent," a "good reputation" and not been convicted of "a crime involving moral turpitude," according to the regulations of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI). In addition, candidates cannot have been a member of Saddam Hussein's secret police, nor "contributed to or participated in the persecution of citizens," nor have made money "in an illegitimate manner at the expense of the homeland and public finance." The regulations are based on sections of the Transition Administrative Law (TAL), drafted under the direction of then-Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority administrator, L. Paul Bremer III. They have raised concerns among U.N. and U.S. officials that Iraq's interim government may try to eliminate candidates through pressure on the electoral commission, whose members were selected by the United Nations but approved by the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council. [more]
