BAGHDAD, July 10 (UPI) -- Iraq's Parliament will wait a week to hold sessions that could tackle controversial issues such as the proposed oil law.
Meanwhile, Kurds say the current version must be changed and Sunnis are calling for a vote of the citizens to make the law official.
Al-Sharqiyah TV reports in Arabic the Parliament postponed work until next Monday as chronic absenteeism and boycotts have plagued the legislative body. Although there is general dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government, the latest backlash is regarding the oil law.
The law has been negotiated for nearly a year and was approved suddenly last week by the Council of Ministers. But numerous roadblocks remain for the law, which will govern exploration and development of the third-largest reserves in the world.
The Kurds are against a law that gives too much control to the federal government and the Iraq National Oil Co. Voices of Iraq reports the Kurdish Coalition wants the draft passed by the ministers altered to reflect their concerns.
Mahmoud Othman, whose political bloc holds 55 seats in Parliament, the second largest, said, "The draft referred to the Iraqi Parliament for debate and approval is not the one agreed on with Kurdish leaders."
Sunnis, with little oil land, fear a decentralized oil sector will hurt their share of income and investment. Hussein al-Falluji, a parliamentarian from the Tawafuq Party, which has boycotted Parliament, called for a national referendum to weigh the oil law, Iraqslogger.com reports.
Meanwhile, Maliki's government is urging the law is passed soon, pressed by the Bush administration for signs of progress.
The law, in its current form, is opposed by oil technocrats for being too weak for the federal government and by the unions for giving too much to foreign oil companies.
