BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s former prime minister says a recommendation to bar political parties from March elections because of suspected ties to Saddam Hussein’s outlawed Baath Party amounts to intimidation.
Ayad Allawi told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that the de-Baathification after Saddam’s ouster in 2003 is now being manipulated for political gain in the run-up to the March 7 parliamentary election.
Allawi is a secular Shiite who served as interim prime minister from mid-2004 to early 2005.
He is part of a coalition contesting the March election that includes Sunni leader Saleh al-Mutlaq, whose party is among those that could be barred.
A committee vetting candidates for Baathist links recommended 14 parties be stopped from running.