Iraq passes provincial elections law

BAGHDAD, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- The Iraqi Parliament Wednesday unanimously passed the provincial elections law following months of turmoil over the status of the northern city of Kirkuk.

Hassan al-Shemri with the Shiite Fadhila Party said lawmakers had agreed to a provision of the measure, Article 4, regarding the elections in the Kurdish territories.

For his part, Salim al-Jubouri with the Sunni Accordance Front said Parliament agreed to develop separate laws to deal with power-sharing issues in Kirkuk, where Arabs, Turkomen and Kurds are vying for power, Voices of Iraq reported.

A parliamentary committee will submit its report on Kirkuk to lawmakers in March. Kurdish lawmakers welcomed the measure as a positive step toward national reconciliation.

The Iraqi Parliament in July passed a similar measure, including a deal to postpone elections in Kirkuk, but Kurdish lawmakers protested that secret balloting on the deal and other provisions amount to a "twisting of the constitution."

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, later vetoed the measure.

Parliament now sends the measure to Talabani's three-member presidency council for approval.

The elections were scheduled initially for Oct. 1, but lawmakers Wednesday pushed them back to Jan. 1.