Kurdish blocs review ties with Iraqi gov't

BAGHDAD, July 17 (UPI) -- Kurdish lawmakers in the Iraqi Parliament Thursday suggested revamping their stance on the major parties because of the disputed election laws.

The Kurdish bloc in the Iraqi Parliament stormed out of the Tuesday session because of the inclusion of the draft election law on the agenda, which lawmakers described as "bone-breaking" for the Kurds.

The draft law originally was slated for the Thursday agenda. The Kurdistani Alliance is the second-largest bloc in Parliament with 55 seats.

"Dawa Party (of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki), the Iraqi Islamic Council, led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, and the Islamic Party under Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi did not support the (Kurdish bloc) when it withdrew from the Parliament's session which discussed the provincial councils elections bill, and thus I urge it to change its policy toward these parties," Kurdish lawmaker Bukhari Abdullah told Voices of Iraq.

Kurdish parliamentary spokesman Friad Rwandizi put the blame squarely on Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani for including the provision on the Tuesday agenda despite objections from key lawmakers, the Kurdish Globe said.

"We were surprised when the law was inserted within the work program of the Tuesday session," said Rwandizi.

The Kurdish spokesman said the Kurdish lawmakers would approach the Iraqi federal court to settle the matter, adding the ongoing argument put the pending election date of October in jeopardy.

The draft law considers whether Kirkuk should be divided into four electoral districts based on ethnic divisions or use census data from 1957 to settle the issue.

More than 500 people protested the issue in northern Iraq Monday.