Sistani weighs in on Iraqi election law

NAJAF, Iraq, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- U.N. officials met with Iraqi Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the holy city of Najaf to discuss the parliamentary elections scheduled for January.

Iraqi lawmakers are debating a national election law that considers an open or closed list for the January ballot. Iraqi Vice Presidents Adel Abdul Mahdi and Tariq al-Hashemi on Wednesday stressed the importance of the open-list system.

Ad Melkert, the U.N. special envoy to Iraq, during his meeting with Sistani stressed the importance of moving forward with the debate. Sistani, for his part, praised the election process while calling for broad participation at the polls, the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq reports.

"The number of people taking part in the registration update is an indicator of the growing confidence in the electoral process and the will of the Iraqi people to rebuild their country," Melkert added.

His comments were echoed by U.S. President Barack Obama who met with his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani in Washington.

The White House in a statement on their meeting said Obama conveyed to Talabani the importance of moving forward with an election law soon.

Iraqi lawmakers had debated the issue before they adjourned their session to next week.