Barred candidates tops Monday session of Iraqi parliament

The Iraqi parliament is set to convene on Monday to discuss a decision by the Appeals Court to allow hundreds of barred candidates to run in 7 March elections.

On Sunday, lawmakers convened for an emergency parliamentary session but soon after it began lawmakers decided to postpone it for Monday.

Falih Fayaz, an Iraqi lawmaker said the session has been adjourned because the appeals court did not officially inform parliament about its commitment to decide the future of the barred candidates before the election campaigning begins on12 February.

The Iraqi Presidency of Council of Ministers, Presidency of Parliament and the Council of Iraq’s High Court on Saturday pushed the country's highest court to issue a quick ruling on hundreds of candidates who have been banned from running in the March elections, warning that parliament will settle the controversy if the judges don't.

The barred candidates are accused of being loyalists of the Baath Party of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The Baath Party is outlawed in accordance with the Iraqi constitution.