Iraqi parliament passes revised election law

Iraqi lawmakers made a deal Sunday night to revise the nation's elections law after months of disputes that may cause a delay of the country's upcoming parliamentary vote.Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president, Tariq al-Hashimi, vetoed a previous step, but al-Hashimi spokesman Abdul Ellah Kadim apprised media that the vice president doesn't have objections with the revisions that passed late Sunday. Kadim said al-Hashimi has congratulated the Iraqi people and the lawmakers on their "achievement."


It is not clear when elections for a new parliament would be held. The independent electoral commission has already ruled out meeting its current deadline of late January.The parliament members passed an explanatory memorandum to the new elections law shortly before midnight Sunday (4 p.m. ET) in an urgent session called by the speaker. The amendment brought the law in line with al-Hashimi's demands. To make law effective, Iraq's three-member Presidency Council, comprising of President Jalal Talabani and two vice-presidents, must unanimously approve legislation passed by parliament. Al-Hashimi had vetoed the election bill in November, arguing that it was not providing enough seats for Iraqi refugees, many of whom are Sunnis.
The explanatory memorandum provides details of a count of government representation: 325 parliament seats; 310 seats for the provinces; and 15 compensational seats. Ethnic minorities will get eight of the compensational seats and the Kurds get three additional seats in parliament.
The United Nations last week suggested the elections to be held on February 27, 2010. U.N. and U.S. officials have been involved in election talks to push for a compromise among Iraqi leaders.


The White House welcomed the amendment's passage.From a U.S. military vantage point, the election is an important step in plans for withdrawal of troops from Iraq. The U.S. Military authorities have told it would maintain the current troop levels of 115,000 until 60 days after the elections and then start the pullout of troops, aiming for an end-of-August deadline for withdrawing combat troops from Iraq. A residual force of up to 50,000 troops would be left in the country. Withdrawal of complete troops has been planned by the end of 2011