Iraqi Parliament Endorses Saddam's Presidential Nomination

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, August 20, 2002

Iraqi Parliament Endorses Saddam's Presidential Nomination

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The National Assembly of Iraq on Monday unanimously backed a decision of the ruling Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) to nominate incumbent President Saddam Hussein as the sole candidate for another presidential term.

"Iraqi people previously chose President Saddam unanimously, and now ... are gathering to march on the same principles to choose the leader for the sake of Iraq," National Assembly Speaker Saadoun Hamadi said in a speech during an extraordinary session of the 250-member parliament.

A referendum on the presidency is scheduled to take place on Oct. 15 when Saddam's current seven-year presidential mandate expires.

Saddam's nomination was made unanimously last week in a plenary session of the all-powerful RCC chaired by Saddam, who has been Iraqi president since 1979.

The RCC also issued a "republican decree" asking the National Assembly to hold an extraordinary session to discuss the RCC's decision.

The decision was a blow to the widely spread rumors that Saddam would step down after the current term in a bid to avert a US-led war aimed to oust him.

US President George W. Bush has branded Saddam's regime as part of an "axis of evil," along with Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and accused them of pursuing weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorism.

Bush has repeatedly vowed to achieve a "regime change" in Iraq with all the tools at his disposal, including military actions.

Facing the growing US saber-rattling, Saddam has remained defiant, repeatedly saying any aggression against his country is doomed to failure, and showing no signs of retreating.

The procedures for this year's referendum had been discussed at a meeting of the RCC on May 8, the official Iraq Daily said in its May 9 edition.

In the coming referendum, "Iraqi people will express their free will and genuine national and patriotic aspirations" as the previous one, which took place on Oct. 15, 1995, the report said.

In the 1995 referendum, Saddam secured a 99.96 percent vote and his presidential term was thus renewed for another seven years.

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