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Feb. 4 (BBC News) - Preparations for elections in Iraq next month have been thrown into disarray by a row over whether to uphold a ban on hundreds of candidates.
The candidates were barred because of alleged affiliations with Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party.
An appeals panel ruled the ban should be overturned, but the government wants it to remain in place and is due to hold an emergency debate on Sunday.
Reports say the start of campaigning for the 7 March poll will be delayed.
A government spokesman said the appeals panel was "illegal and unconstitutional".
The election is regarded as a crucial test for Iraq's national reconciliation process ahead of a planned US military withdrawal.
On Wednesday, the appeals panel ruling overturned a ban on hundreds of politicians from running for public office.
Baathism is a form of secular Arab nationalism and was the ideology espoused by Saddam Hussein when he came to power.
The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Baghdad says although the list of names straddles the sectarian divide, it is Sunni groups who have felt most targeted by the exclusions, and whose voices of protest have been heard loudest.
Although a minority, Sunni Muslims were dominant under Saddam Hussein's rule but have since complained of being marginalised under the post-Saddam Shia-led government.
The ruling would allow the candidates to stand for election, and be subject to investigation only after the polls.
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