Realty Review

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – An Iraqi committee decided Monday to cancel the votes for 52 candidates in the March parliamentary elections, officials said, leaving the election results in the air and could be eliminating the slight advantage of an alliance supported by Sunnis.

One of the names banned for alleged links with the banned party of Saddam Hussein, Baath, the winner in the elections of March 7 for the block intersectario of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi , who took a strong Sunni support for a two-seat advantage in the election.

Allawi announced later that his bloc Iraqiya appeal the decision of the panel.

“We have instructed lawyers to appeal to the panel”s decision,” said the former leader at a news conference in Ankara. “We are very concerned about certain groups that are controlling the political process in Iraq,” added.

Allies of former Prime Minister said they thought the outcome of the election change. Under the Iraqi electoral system, a candidate vetoed by the panel can be replaced by a member of the same party.

However, any reduction in the representation of Iraqiya could spark anger among Sunni , at a time when sectarian violence unleashed yields after the US-led invasion in 2003.

“The review committee”s decision is politically motivated and could undermine the entire process democratic Iraq, “said Mustafa al-Hiti, a senior official Iraqiya.

KEY DECISION ON TUESDAY

Election officials and other politicians on Tuesday said a verdict could come more important when the panel considers the fate of six to nine winning candidates. The block could leave the coalition has benefited most is the law of the State of Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who won 89 quotas, just behind the Iraqiya 91.

The decision committee occurs before the start of next week the counting of the votes in Baghdad, which could also change the outcome and anger Sunnis, who saw the success of Iraqiya a vindication of its claim to a greater political role.

The resentment of Sunnis appeared after the fall of Saddam regime in 2003, mainly based on this religious group, and the consequent marginalization of power, sparking a sectarian war and fierce insurgency.

Iraqis hoped that elections help to cement the improvement in security and stef4ability, but instead, the lack of a clear result of the political uncertainty caused as parties Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds try to negotiate agreements with those who get a majority that allows them to form a government.

“This decision (of the review panel) creates a wall between the political parties when they should approach to quickly form a government, “said Khamis al-Badri, a professor of political science at Baghdad University.

The incident comes at a time when international oil companies begin to invest in major oil fields of Iraq, launching the country on a path that could more than quadruple its production capacity of Saudi crude to levels of 12 million barrels a day.

Hamdiya al Husseini, a member of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, said the decision taken on Monday by the panel was not final and that the affected candidates had a month to appeal.

(Additional reporting by Rania El Gamal and Muhannad Mohammed, Written by Michael Christie, Editing by Juana Casas in Spanish)