BAGHDAD — Iraqi leaders on Saturday pushed the country’s highest court to issue a quick ruling on hundreds of candidates who have been banned from running in March elections, warning that parliament will settle the controversy if the judges don’t.
With lawmakers headed back to Baghdad for an emergency parliamentary session, an adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the court has until this afternoon to decide how to handle the dispute that risks alienating Sunni voters.
At issue are about 450 candidates accused of being loyalists to Sad dam Hussein’s Baathist regime. They were banned from running on the March 7 ballot by a Shiite-led vetting panel that is seen as targeting Sunnis, even though Shiites also are on the blacklist. The Associated Press
