On 25 March 2010, the Federal Supreme Court issued opinion 25 of 2010 on the meaning of Article 76 of the constitution, the first part of which reads: The President of the Republic shall charge the nominee of the largest Council of Representatives bloc with the formation of the Council of Ministers within fifteen days […]
Category: Elections Highlights
The Election is over – and so what happens next?
The order of events will be: ratification of results, the call to the Council of Representatives to convene, the election of a speaker, the election of the new President, the nomination and approval of the Council of Ministers.
Election Posters Vandalised in Baghdad – Criminal Sanctions Threatened
The streets of Iraq’s cities are festooned with election posters. Yahoo! News suggests that not everyone is taking the election campaign overly seriously. The Star Tribune reported on 20 February 2010 about vandalism to some election posters since the election campaign began. Another excellent photo slideshow which only tangentially touches on the forthcoming election is […]
Proof against barred Iraq candidates to be released
Middle East Online on 28 February 2010 reported that Ali al-Lami had stated that evidence supporting the decision of the Justice and Accountability Committee’s (JAC) to declare a number of candidates as being subject to the deBa’thification law, which in turn led them to be barred by the Independent High Electoral Commission from Iraq’s March […]
Qualification of Parliamentary Candidates
A candidate for election to the Council of Representatives must be an Iraqi (Article 49(2) of the Constitution) who is not permitted to combine the office with any work or other official position (Article 49(6)). Article 6 of the Election Law No. 16 of 2005 states that: A candidate must be a voter [i.e. registered […]
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a private nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation among nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. Founded in 1910, its work is nonpartisan and dedicated to achieving practical results. It describes itself as a Global Think Tank. CEIP’s website has an excellent page on […]
Cassation Court Panel issues judgments on ‘banned’ candidates: Updated
As the campaigning for the election on 7 March 2010 begins, the Washington Post reported that on Thursday 11 February 2010, the Panel of members of the Court of Cassation had released its judgments on the appeals of those determined by the Commission for Accountability and Justice to be covered by the Deba’thification law (and […]
Supreme Commission for Accountability and Justice Law
We have translated the Law No. 10 of 2008, taken from the original on the Council of Representatives website. The International Centre for Transitional Justice published a briefing paper on the 2008 Law on 22 January 2008.
‘Most banned Iraqi poll candidates’ appeals rejected’
The Washington Post on Tuesday 9 February 2010 carried the story that ‘an Iraqi legal body said on Tuesday’ that “almost all the candidates who contested their ban from Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary election did not submit their cases properly and lost the chance to appeal”.
Vetting process to be completed by Friday 12 February 2010
The New York Times reported on 7 February 2010 that an emergency session of Parliament called by Prime Minister Maliki to deal with the latest election crisis failed to muster a quorum on Sunday and was postponed. The seven-member Electoral Judicial Panel is reported to have begun reviewing the disqualifications case by case and is […]