Iraq delays election law vote to Saturday

BAGHDAD, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Iraqi lawmakers were unable to pass amendments to a national election law on Thursday putting a January vote date in serious doubt.

Bahaa al-Aaraji, the head of a legal committee in the Iraqi Parliament, said lawmakers postponed the vote to Saturday citing a lack of quorum in the Thursday session, the Voices of Iraq news agency reports.

Iraqi election officials had warned that if Parliament did not pass a measure during their Thursday session, it was unlikely national elections will take place on Jan. 16 as planned.

U.N. officials had expressed similar concerns, saying they would advise Iraqi officials to postpone the elections if the Thursday session ended without a vote.

A delayed election could create problems for the timeline for a U.S. troop withdrawal as outlined by a bilateral agreement reached in November.

Lawmakers had deliberated over the system used for the voting. A closed system as outlined in a 2005 election law lists only party tickets on the ballot, while an open system includes the names of candidates running for parliamentary seats.

The latest wrangling involves how voting would proceed in Kirkuk, where disputes among rival Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds create challenges to passing the election law.

Aaraji, however, said lawmakers had reached some concessions on Kirkuk

"The lawmakers agreed to hold election in Kirkuk according to the voter register of 2009 and to give a seat for Arabs and Turkmen from the national seats," he said.