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Iraq passes poll law, vote urged before Jan 31

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-25 10:02

Local elections are seen as a test of Iraq's democracy, and Washington hopes they will help reconcile rival groups, especially Sunni Arabs who boycotted the last provincial polls in 2005 and, without a say in most local governments, now feel marginalized in areas where they are numerically dominant.

But the polls could also lead to tension between competing groups, especially in the Shi'ite south where there is expected to be a struggle for power in a region that holds most of the country's proven reserves of oil.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN special representative to Iraq, congratulated lawmakers for reaching a compromise on Kirkuk.

"The Iraqi people will now have a chance to express their own opinion and their own vote about who is going to lead them at the provincial level," De Mistura told a news conference with parliamentary leaders.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell applauded passage of the law, calling it "another step in the right direction...We need more tangible signs of reconciliation. We need more political progress. We need more democratic activity, and that's what this is."

The earlier version of the law passed by parliament and rejected by Talabani, a Kurd, would have divided council seats equally between Kirkuk's ethnic groups. Kurdish MPs had boycotted the session in protest.

Kurds believe they are numerically superior in Kirkuk, which they consider their ancient capital and want to fold into their largely autonomous northern region. Kirkuk's Arabs and Turkmen want the city to remain under central government authority.

"The committee was able to fix a tough problem that remained unsolved for months," said Khalid Shwani, a Kurdish lawmaker.

The new law changes some of the voting procedures from legislation used for the last local elections in January 2005.

One significant difference is it uses an open list electoral system, where voters can choose specific candidates. Under the old law, a closed list system was used, where they could only select political parties.

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