WASHINGTON – “Saddam to Declare Candidacy for Iraqi Elections” reads the headline in Zaman Online, which styles itself as the first Turkish paper on the Internet.
Saddam Hussein’s lawyer, Giovanni di Stefano, apparently recently told a Danish newspaper that Hussein has decided he is going to run in January for the interim national assembly, which is to write a new constitution.
Di Stefano said there was no law that prevented Hussein from appearing on the ballot, adding that Hussein hopes to regain his presidency and palaces via the democratic process.
“Saddam has no chance to be tried before the elections,” Di Stefano argued, according to the report, and “no international law prevents him from coming forward.”
These elections are parliamentary, so Hussein would not have to run nationwide, only from a district, presumably Tikrit. Even nationwide, Hussein seems to be making something of a comeback. Di Stefano cited a recent Gallup poll that he said indicates that 42 percent of the Iraqi people want their former leader back.
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