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Iraq lawmakers end impasse, election to go ahead
Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, said he accepted the accord, which was voted on in a nailbiting session, and that he would run the dates of Feb. 27 or 28 by the electoral authorities to see which would be most suitable.
The three-person presidency council, of which Hashemi is a part, would then set a date.
“I have agreed to withdraw the veto,” Hashemi said in a phone call to a television station.
The parliamentary election, which should have taken place by the end of January according to the constitution, is seen as a milestone in Iraq’s young democracy as it emerges from bloodshed and US control.
But rows over the allocation of parliamentary seats reopened deep sectarian and ethnic divides between once dominant Sunnis, majority Shiites and minority Kurds that had only just started to heal after years of war triggered by the 2003 US invasion.
“This is wonderful and a huge achievement for Iraq. Now the way is paved to conduct the election at a date to be determined by the presidency council,” said Khalid al-Attiya, deputy speaker of parliament.
A substantial poll delay could have affected US plans to end combat operations in Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010, ahead of a full withdrawal by 2012. Delaying next year’s partial drawdown could make a planned US military build-up in Afghanistan harder.
Veto conundrum
Hashemi on Nov. 18 vetoed the first draft of the election law because he felt it did not provide enough representation to refugees, many of whom are Sunnis, like him.
Deputies from the Shi’ite and Kurd communities then joined forces to pass an amended law that was seen as slap in the face to Hashemi because it reduced the number of seats allocated to Sunni areas. Hashemi had been expected to veto the law again, as a result.
But with the clock ticking on Hashemi’s deadline for casting the second veto, parliament agreed on a redistribution of seats that he found acceptable.
All 138 deputies present accepted the compromise, according to parliamentary officials.
Under the deal, the number of parliamentary seats is increased to 325 from 275. It gave back to Sunni areas, such as the volatile northern province of Nineveh, seats that had been lost in the previous version of the law, and also added seats in Kurdish provinces.
A small group of Kurdish representatives, who had wanted more seats, complained that they had not actually voted in favor of the law but parliamentary speaker Ayad al-Samarai paid them no heed.
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