KIRKUK, Iraq, July 14 (UPI) -- More than 500 people demonstrated Monday in the northern city of Hawija in Iraq's Kirkuk province demanding timely council elections, local leaders said.
The Iraqi Parliament delayed until Thursday a vote on the provincial elections law, citing disputes over the province of Kirkuk.
Hawija provincial leader Hussein Ali Saleh said people marched through the city center Monday rejecting calls to delay the elections in Kirkuk, Voices of Iraq said.
Saleh said the people submitted a letter to provincial leaders objecting to the delay and called on an equal division of authority in the region to Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen.
Local officials described the demonstration as a largely peaceful protest.
The current draft law on council elections allows voters to cast their ballots for individual candidates rather than party slates.
Kurdistan Alliance lawmaker Yousuf Ahmed said senior Kurdish officials met with Kirkuk council leaders to hammer out a resolution.
