Iraq VP vetoes new election law

One of Iraq's two vice-presidents has vetoed part of the country's new election law, putting the parliamentary polls scheduled for January in doubt.

Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, revoked Article 1 of the law and called for the representation in parliament of displaced people to increase to 15%.

Most Iraqis who have fled violence since 2003 are thought to be Sunni.

The law, which MPs approved after much delay 10 days ago, will now go back to parliament for further discussion.

The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq had said the poll would be held on 21 January. Constitutionally, it must be held before the end of that month.

The election is seen as a prerequisite to the US meeting its goal of pulling out combat troops by August.

'Compensatory seats'

The BBC's Jim Muir, in Baghdad, says that at issue for Mr Hashemi are the votes of the four million Iraqis, mostly Sunni Arabs, whom he believes fled the country in the wake of the sectarian conflict triggered by the US-led invasion in 2003.


IRAQI ELECTIONS
2003: US appoints Governing Council
2004: Governing Council elects interim government
Aug 2004: National conference elects interim national assembly
Jan 2005: First general elections for transitional national assembly and provincial councils
Dec 2005: General elections for first full-term government and parliament
Jan 2009: Polls for provincial councils - key test of security gains

Under the election law approved by parliament, the proportion of "compensatory seats" representing the displaced was set at 5% of the total in parliament. Mr Hashemi wants the figure raised to 15%.

Speaking at a news conference in Baghdad, Mr Hashemi said that despite vetoing Article 1 of the law he was neither against the law as a whole nor wanted to see further delays that could prevent elections being held in January.

"I sent a letter to parliament asking for the law to be amended. Parliament said I could veto the contested first article, which is what I have done today," he said.

Mr Hashemi said he believed the issue could be dealt swiftly in one session of parliament, opening the way for its final ratification by Iraq's three-man Presidency Council and allowing campaigning to begin.

But, our correspondent says, that is not the only problem facing the elections - the Kurds in the north of the country have said they could boycott them altogether.

President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, has said he is angry that only three of the 48 extra seats in the new chamber have been allocated to the three mainly Kurdish provinces of Dohuk, Arbil and Sulaimaniya. Many Kurds see it as a move to diminish their voice in Baghdad.

An election without the Kurds is hard to imagine, so much more time will have to be taken up to reach a resolution, our correspondent adds.