Iraq's electoral commission have announced that they will decide 'within days' whether to ban 15 political parties from running in the forthcoming elections because their leaders allegedly have Ba'athist links.
Ayad Jamal Aldin, leader of the Ahrar party, believes that the banning of these parties - without concrete evidence linking them to paramilitary groups or terrorist activity - would be unreasonable and further demonstrates the corrupt politics that Maliki's government abide to.
"These elections must be to the benefit of the Iraqi people, not simply the ruling powers. This ruling further demonstrates Maliki's fear that the voters have grown tired of his regime's sectarianism and corruption. By eliminating competition the government is manipulating the electoral system, just as Saddam Hussein did before him." Says Mr. Jamal Aldin.
"Free and fair elections must be inclusive and, although we may disagree with some of the other parties policies, to ban them from taking part in the elections risks sabotaging the entire political process. The people should be allowed to decide for themselves."
