.Iraq MPs approve long delayed elections law
BAGHDAD, Sept 24 - Iraq's parliament unanimously approved a provincial elections law on Wednesday after months of bickering between Arabs and Kurds, and called for the vote to be held before Jan. 31 next year, legislators said.
The polls had been scheduled for Oct. 1 but the law governing how the vote should be conducted stalled in parliament over how to treat the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, where control is disputed by Kurds, Arabs and ethnic Turkmen.
Parliamentarians said elections in Kirkuk would be delayed until a formula satisfactory to all sides was worked out.
The elections, which will select provincial councils across Iraq, will provide clues on how Shi'ite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish factions will fare in national polls scheduled for late 2009.
Both the United Nations and the United States had been urging Iraqi leaders to pass the law, saying the elections would be a vital step in building on recent decline in violence and would boost national reconciliation efforts.
Overall violence has fallen to four-year lows in Iraq, but militants continue to carry out sporadic large-scale attacks.
Gunmen killed 20 people including 12 policemen in an ambush northeast of Baghdad on Wednesday, police said.
In what appeared to be a sophisticated assault, gunmen first attacked a village checkpoint near the city of Baquba, killing one policeman. They then ambushed reinforcements, killing a further 11 policemen, local Sunni Arab patrol group members and civilians, police said.
Faraj al-Haidari, head of the Electoral Commission, said while much of the organising work for the local polls had been finished it might be 4-5 months before the vote could go ahead.
"If the presidency (council) approves the law, we need 140 to 150 days to complete all the preparations to hold the elections," Haidari told Reuters.
Parliament will now submit the law to Iraq's three-member presidency council, headed by President Jalal Talabani, for approval. Talabani rejected an earlier version that was approved by MPs in July and sent it back to parliament, but given the law on Wednesday was approved unanimously it should be a formality.
Salim al-Jubouri, from the Sunni Arab Accordance Front, said both Arabs and Kurds had made concessions on Kirkuk.
A separate law for elections in Kirkuk as well as a power-sharing formula for the city's administration would be drawn up, Jubouri said.
Local elections are seen as a test of Iraq's democracy and Washington hopes they will help reconcile rival groups, especially Sunni Arabs who boycotted the last provincial polls in 2005 and, without a say in most local governments, now feel marginalised in areas where they are numerically dominant.
But the polls could also lead to tension between competing groups, especially in the Shi'ite south where there is expected to be a struggle for power in a region that holds most of the country's proven reserves of oil.
UN, US PRAISES COMPROMISE
Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. special representative to Iraq, congratulated lawmakers for reaching a compromise on Kirkuk.
"The Iraqi people will now have a chance to express their own opinion and their own vote about who is going to lead them at the provincial level," De Mistura told a news conference with parliamentary leaders.
U.S. embassy spokeswoman Susan Ziadeh added: "The law passed with unanimous support reflects a spirit of consensus and demonstrates Iraq's full commitment to the democratic process."
The earlier version of the law passed by parliament and rejected by Talabani, a Kurd, would have divided council seats equally between Kirkuk's ethnic groups. Kurdish MPs had boycotted the session in protest.
Kurds believe they are numerically superior in Kirkuk, which they consider their ancient capital and want to fold into their largely autonomous northern region. Kirkuk's Arabs and Turkmen want the city to remain under central government authority.
"The committee was able to fix a tough problem that remained unsolved for months," said Khalid Shwani, a Kurdish lawmaker.
The new law changes some of the voting procedures from legislation used for the last local elections in January 2005.
One significant difference is it uses an open list electoral system -- where voters can choose specific candidates. Under the old law, a closed list system was used, where they can only selected political parties.
FT
The polls had been scheduled for Oct. 1 but the law governing how the vote should be conducted stalled in parliament over how to treat the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, where control is disputed by Kurds, Arabs and ethnic Turkmen.
Parliamentarians said elections in Kirkuk would be delayed until a formula satisfactory to all sides was worked out.
The elections, which will select provincial councils across Iraq, will provide clues on how Shi'ite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish factions will fare in national polls scheduled for late 2009.
Both the United Nations and the United States had been urging Iraqi leaders to pass the law, saying the elections would be a vital step in building on recent decline in violence and would boost national reconciliation efforts.
Overall violence has fallen to four-year lows in Iraq, but militants continue to carry out sporadic large-scale attacks.
Gunmen killed 20 people including 12 policemen in an ambush northeast of Baghdad on Wednesday, police said.
In what appeared to be a sophisticated assault, gunmen first attacked a village checkpoint near the city of Baquba, killing one policeman. They then ambushed reinforcements, killing a further 11 policemen, local Sunni Arab patrol group members and civilians, police said.
Faraj al-Haidari, head of the Electoral Commission, said while much of the organising work for the local polls had been finished it might be 4-5 months before the vote could go ahead.
"If the presidency (council) approves the law, we need 140 to 150 days to complete all the preparations to hold the elections," Haidari told Reuters.
Parliament will now submit the law to Iraq's three-member presidency council, headed by President Jalal Talabani, for approval. Talabani rejected an earlier version that was approved by MPs in July and sent it back to parliament, but given the law on Wednesday was approved unanimously it should be a formality.
Salim al-Jubouri, from the Sunni Arab Accordance Front, said both Arabs and Kurds had made concessions on Kirkuk.
A separate law for elections in Kirkuk as well as a power-sharing formula for the city's administration would be drawn up, Jubouri said.
Local elections are seen as a test of Iraq's democracy and Washington hopes they will help reconcile rival groups, especially Sunni Arabs who boycotted the last provincial polls in 2005 and, without a say in most local governments, now feel marginalised in areas where they are numerically dominant.
But the polls could also lead to tension between competing groups, especially in the Shi'ite south where there is expected to be a struggle for power in a region that holds most of the country's proven reserves of oil.
UN, US PRAISES COMPROMISE
Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. special representative to Iraq, congratulated lawmakers for reaching a compromise on Kirkuk.
"The Iraqi people will now have a chance to express their own opinion and their own vote about who is going to lead them at the provincial level," De Mistura told a news conference with parliamentary leaders.
U.S. embassy spokeswoman Susan Ziadeh added: "The law passed with unanimous support reflects a spirit of consensus and demonstrates Iraq's full commitment to the democratic process."
The earlier version of the law passed by parliament and rejected by Talabani, a Kurd, would have divided council seats equally between Kirkuk's ethnic groups. Kurdish MPs had boycotted the session in protest.
Kurds believe they are numerically superior in Kirkuk, which they consider their ancient capital and want to fold into their largely autonomous northern region. Kirkuk's Arabs and Turkmen want the city to remain under central government authority.
"The committee was able to fix a tough problem that remained unsolved for months," said Khalid Shwani, a Kurdish lawmaker.
The new law changes some of the voting procedures from legislation used for the last local elections in January 2005.
One significant difference is it uses an open list electoral system -- where voters can choose specific candidates. Under the old law, a closed list system was used, where they can only selected political parties.
FT
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