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IRAQ: Parliament admits failure in effort to pass election law

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The Iraqi parliament acknowledged failure in its efforts to pass an election law today and referred the issue to the Political Council for National Security, an informal advisory body comprising all the heads of the major political blocs.

The move seems certain to delay at least until next week an agreement on the new law needed to regulate nationwide elections due to be held on Jan. 16, putting at risk the date of the election.

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The U.S. military is closely watching the battle over the new law because it plans to begin withdrawing the bulk of its forces from Iraq once a new government is seated. A delay in the election could therefore delay the troop withdrawal.

The head of Iraq’s election commission, Faraj Haidari, said at a news conference that he was determined to hold the election on schedule, but that the quality of the election could be affected by continued delays in an election law. The commission needs at least 90 days to prepare for the poll, he said, and that deadline has passed.

The U.N. also warned that the delay could ‘considerably disrupt’ the election schedule and preparations, jeopardizing the credibility of the electoral process.

The law has snagged on disputes over voting procedures in the contested province of Kirkuk, which is claimed by Kurds, Arabs and Turkomen.

But there are also suspicions that some lawmakers are dragging out the process of agreeing on a new law in order to force a reversion to the previous election law, under which voters will not get the chance to select individual candidates, only party names. The election commission has said it needs less time to prepare an election in which ballot papers feature only party names.

-- Liz Sly in Baghdad

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