So – Is it democracy or isn't it?

On the Iraqi political scene, the prominent players have not really changed for years. Few new faces have risen to prominence. And although some alliances and affiliations have changed, most of the prominent politicians are the same.

So why now - and just before elections, does the Accountability & Justice Commission, (a body formed to weed out Iraqis who are loyal to Saddam's Baath party) announce its findings that a large number of candidates need to be banned from the upcoming national elections because they have connections to the Baath party, a party that is banned as a whole by the constitution??

Maybe I can understand it if the commission was banning only newcomers, new names – new faces that have not been part of the political scene before - people whom it has just now investigated and decided to reject. But to suddenly, after years of silence, and in the critical period of time that precedes national elections, cross out names that have been part of Iraqi politics for years – How "un-political" a ruling can that be?

Why not instead, uncover the suspicious connections and go public with the unlawful acts that they are accused of, with complete transparency – and leave it to the citizens of the Republic of Iraq to decide, and to choose their representatives. Isn't that democracy?