VZCZCXRO0542
OO RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDH RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #0222 0281612
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 281612Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6337
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 000222 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL IZ
SUBJECT: DE-BA'ATHIFICATION BY THE NUMBERS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) The total universe of candidates disqualified under 
de-Ba'athification stands at 406.  According to 
Accountability and Justice Commission (AJC) data provided by 
IHEC and UNAMI, 63 candidates have now been reinstated 
(removed from the list of disqualified).  The AJC sent the 
most recent list to IHEC on January 26, publishing the 63 
names.  Six new names were added to the list.  The total 
number of candidates disqualified on the most recent list is 
¶456.  Parties/coalitions have notified IHEC that they have 
taken the initiative to remove 50 candidates from their lists 
who are on the list of disqualified candidates. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) There has been no definitive breakdown on the 
sectarian identities of the list of 500-odd candidates the 
AJC disqualified under de-Ba'athification laws.  The head of 
IHEC, Faraj al-Haydari told poloffs he estimated that some 50 
percent of the names were Shia.  Like other contacts, he 
pointed out that it was hard to make a definitive estimate 
because there is no data providing the sect of the candidate 
and many of the same names are used by both Sunni and Shia. 
ISCI bloc leader Humam al-Hamoudi estimated that 55 percent 
of the names were Shia.  At the higher end of estimates on 
the sectarian breakdown of the list, contacts have estimated 
that as many as 65 percent on the list were Shia. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In terms of party/list affiliation, the numbers are 
more precise.  According to IHEC data, Iraqiyya List had 72 
candidates on the list; Bolani,s Coalition of Iraq,s Unity 
had 67 names; Maliki,s State of Law list had 24 names; 
ISCI-Badr had 17 names; the Sadrists had 20 names; Kurdish 
bloc had 18 names; Tawafuq/IIP had 20 names; and even the 
Communist Party had 6 names.  It is clear from these numbers 
that the two coalitions the hardest hit by the 
de-Ba'athification effort were Allawi's Iraqiyya List and 
Bolani's Coalition of Iraq's Unity, both led by Shia secular 
nationalists with broad appeal and significant Sunni support. 
HILL