The Ba'ath ban is back, for now

Iraq's "four presidencies" -- Jalal Talabani (the president), Nouri al-Maliki (the prime minister), Ayad al-Sammaraie (the parliament speaker) and Midhat al-Mahmud (the head of the judiciary) -- convened for a meeting yesterday. Details of the meeting are scarce, but the group agreed to overturn last week's appeals court decision which overturned the de-Ba'athification decision.

I'm a little unclear on what legal authority they're exercising -- but then this whole sorry de-Ba'athification affair has operated in a legal gray area.

The court will now individually review the cases of 177 candidates who appealed their bans -- and not the entire list of 766 banned candidates. It will somehow wrap up this work (عربي) by Feb. 12, the official start of campaign season (though unofficial campaigning has already started). Maliki says he will accept the court's decisions as final.

Parliament was supposed to convene this afternoon (عربي) to discuss the crisis, but they delayed the session by about 24 hours. A spokesman for the parliament speaker, Ayad al-Sammaraie, said the delay is over paperwork: parliament hasn't yet received a "full judicial report" from the appellate court.

Poor attendance might be another reason for the delay: A parliamentary source said only 75 of the 275 MPs showed up. A number of MPs were traveling abroad, and the special session was called just 48 hours after the Arbaeen holiday.

Legislators will consider a resolution to declare a "loss of confidence" (عربي) in the appeals court.

Meanwhile, Shi'ite political parties continue to warn of Ba'athist influence in the Iraqi government. Hundreds of protesters descended on Baghdad today to denounce the Ba'ath Party; many also criticized U.S. "meddling." One protester waved an American flag with the word "Ba'ath" in place of the stars.

But hundreds of Iraqis staged a protest in Baghdad on Sunday, denouncing the court ruling to allow the candidates to contest the forthcoming elections.

Many of them carried placards that said, "No, No to Baath Party!" and "The return of the Baath Party (is) a return to mass graves."

Salah Abdul Razzaq, the governor of Baghdad and a member of the Shi'ite Dawa party, vowed revenge (عربي) for those "martyred... by the Ba'ath Party." Local government leaders in Basra also staged anti-Ba'ath rallies.

And Ali Faysal al-Lami, the chairman of the Justice and Accountability Commission, confirmed yesterday (عربي) that his office has received a request to de-Ba'athify Iraqi vice president Tariq al-Hashimi. Hashimi has been a vocal critic of the commission's work over the last few weeks.

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