Iraq lawmakers delay vacations in face of fall election disputes
A divided parliament puts off its annual summer recess for 30 days in an effort to resolve a series of issues regarding provincial balloting scheduled for Oct. 1.
BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi parliament agreed today to postpone its summer recess for 30 days in a bid to finalize legislation needed to hold provincial elections in the fall.
U.S. and Iraqi officials hope the balloting, scheduled for Oct. 1, will settle local power disputes that threaten to undermine security gains made since last summer. But parliament is divided over the procedures to be followed.
Disputes include whether candidates should compete individually or on party lists, and whether political groups with militias should be allowed to participate.
Some factions have also argued that the election should be delayed in Kirkuk, citing uncertainty about the future of the oil-rich city and other areas claimed by Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the north.
The U.N. envoy to Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, said after a meeting with Iraqi lawmakers today that the country was unlikely to be ready to vote by the beginning of October because of the delay approving a new election law. But he was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that elections could be held by the end of the year if a bill is finalized this month.
Legislators had been scheduled to go on holiday today, but agreed to continue meeting until July 30, said Jaber Habeeb, a member of the governing Shiite Muslim alliance.
Iraqi lawmakers have been criticized by U.S. officials in past years for taking long summer vacations while key legislation was still pending.
News of the delayed recess came as Sunni Arab lawmakers said they were nearing an agreement with Prime Minister Nouri Maliki that would bring them back into the Cabinet. Most Sunnis in Maliki's government walked out in August, accusing the main Shiite Muslim factions of refusing to share power.
But members of the largest Sunni alliance, the Iraqi Accordance Front, say the government has met some of their key demands, including approving a conditional amnesty aimed at reducing the number of mostly Sunni detainees held in Iraqi jails.
The alliance also has expressed approval of recent government crackdowns against Shiite militants in Basra, Amarah and parts of Baghdad. Sunni politicians had accused Maliki of failing to go after fellow Shiites as aggressively as he pursues Sunni insurgents.
Salim Jubouri, spokesman for the Sunni alliance, said Maliki had agreed to assign them six ministries and a deputy prime minister's slot. They include the ministries of culture, higher education, women's affairs, planning, the ministry of state for foreign affairs, and one other portfolio, still to be determined, Jubouri said.
