Lawmaker: Holidays may stall Iraqi electoral law discussion

Dec 4, 2009, 10:40 GMT

Baghdad - Too many Iraqi lawmakers might be on holiday for parliament to reach a quorum to discuss a law covering voting in the 2010 parliamentary polls, a delegate said Friday.

Parliamentary speaker Iyad al-Samarrai had requested a special meeting to discuss the continued impasse over the law, but Taha Dara, a lawmaker with the ruling National Iraqi Alliance, told the German Press Agency dpa that he did not think enough lawmakers would show up to reach a quorum.

'I do not think that the Iraqi parliament is ready for a meeting on Saturday, because a quorum cannot be obtained,' Dara said. 'Many deputies are out of the country, enjoying the Eid holidays.'

Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, who, like al-Samarrai, is a Sunni Muslim, must decide whether to veto a new version of the law by Sunday.

After he first vetoed the legislation on November 19 on the grounds that he wanted to ensure more representation for displaced Iraqis, most of whom are thought to be Sunnis, parliament returned a new version of the law that Sunni lawmakers complained would further reduce their voice in the new parliament.

Dara said he believed the ruling coalition, which is dominated by Shiite and Kurdish parties, had enough votes to overturn al-Hashemi's veto, should he choose to use it a second time.

'Parliament will hold a regular session on the eighth of (December) to pass the law ... The election date will be set for the beginning of March,' he predicted.