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| Iraq |
| Iraqi lawmakers pass election law |
| 2009-11-09 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Iraq's parliament on Sunday passed a long-delayed election law paving the way for a national vote in January after overcoming a potentially explosive row over the disputed city of Kirkuk, lawmakers said. The parliamentary election next year is a crucial test for the world's 11th largest crude oil producer as it emerges from sectarian carnage unleashed by the U.S. invasion in 2003 and starts to stand on its own feet while U.S. troops pull out. The vote is slated for January 16 but the date has been thrown into doubt because of delays and wrangles over the system to be used in what will be the second national poll since the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Key to the passing of the electoral law were provisions governing the conduct of the vote in Kirkuk, a disputed and ethnically-mixed province of Kurds, Sunnis and Turkmen. Kurds favored using current voter registration lists and keeping Kirkuk as one electoral constituency, Arabs and Turkmen want 2004 or 2005 records to be used, or for Kirkuk to be split into two constituencies. |
| Posted by:Fred |