Law will bar Sadr from election if he keeps militia

CNN:

A proposed election law could hurt the popular political movement of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr -- whose Mehdi Army militia followers have been battling U.S. and Iraqi troops in Baghdad's Sadr City.

The bill, which was given its first reading Tuesday in Iraq's parliament, would ban parties with militias from taking part in provincial elections. The elections are slated to occur by October 1.

Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said under the proposal sent to parliament that "anyone with an army or an armed force cannot register with the electoral commission to run and this will be legal after a parliamentary vote and this will be done in the next parliament session."

Khalid al-Atiya, the parliament's deputy speaker, said the body hopes to approve the law in the next couple of weeks. Parliament has adjourned until Wednesday.

Provincial elections are seen as an important step in empowering Iraqis at the grass-roots level and creating a political system that includes those who have been alienated from power.

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This law should insure a political defeat to go along with the military defeat the Mahdi army has experienced in recent weeks. It also puts more pressure on His Iranian backers. For Sadr, it presents a lose lose deal. The only way he might come out on this deal is to disband his army and hope to win some seats in the election. If he does not do that he is conceding his political weakness.