Iraqi court bars 90 candidates from serving in Iraq's Parliament

An Iraqi court has ordered that at least 90 candidates in the recent national elections be disqualified from serving in the Iraqi Parliament because of their ties to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.

.......

While it was not clear whether more than a handful of the affected candidates would have won seats among the 275 in Parliament, the ruling bars some Sunni Arab leaders who probably would have won. And it is sure to fuel an already deep resentment among Sunni Arabs, who are likely to again have a limited role in the new government despite a large turnout at the ballot box nine days ago.

.......

Sunni Arab leaders have accused the dominant Shiite political parties of widespread ballot-box stuffing and other fraud and have called for new elections. On Saturday, Iraqi election officials in Baghdad began examining ballot boxes from six polling sites in the capital that were subjects of fraud allegations.

Election officials also disclosed that some staff members from the Independent Election Commission of Iraq were among those accused in the complaints of vote tampering. Out of 1500 allegations of fraud and other irregularities, Iraqi elections officials now classify 35 as serious complaints that, if wrongdoing is proven, could affect election results in certain areas. But they have strongly played down the possibility of new elections.


http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/iraqi-court-bars-90-mp-nominees/2005/12/25/1135445486356.html

what happened to all that bullshit about "reaching out" to former Baathists to "allow them to become part of the political process" to help "quell the insurgency?"

when offical results indicate the number of seats that
a party gets.

Someone just lit the fuse for a civil war, methinks

RIGHT NOW

:wtf: