BAGHDAD — Iraq’s election authority proposed Sunday to delay important provincial balloting in an apparent sign of frustration over a political impasse that has stalled preparations for voting planned for this fall.
The provincial election plan — strongly backed by Washington — would shift more political powers to regions and is viewed by Sunni Arabs as path to gain more influence over decisions by the Shiite-led government.
U.S. officials see the voting as another key step in national reconciliation.
But any prolonged setbacks could slow momentum for giving Sunnis a greater voice in political and security affairs — considered essential to stabilize the country and maintain pressure on al-Qaeda in Iraq and other militant factions.
Iraq’s efforts to heal sectarian rifts are likely to be discussed during the visit to Baghdad by presidential candidate Barack Obama, who wrapped up a stop in Afghanistan on Sunday.
But the election plans remain snared in one of Iraq’s thorniest political dilemmas: the future of the oil-rich northern region of Kirkuk.
Iraq’s Kurds, who control a semi-autonomous region in the north, have held up parliament passage of a law to allocate funds and set guidelines for the provincial elections, at the moment scheduled for Oct. 1.
They oppose a proposed equal distribution of provincial council seats in the Kirkuk region, which is outside the Kurdish territory but considered by many Kurds to be part of their historical land.
The Kurds also are pressing the government to hold a long-delayed referendum in Kirkuk on whether to join the Kurdish area.
The Election Commission, in a statement distributed to lawmakers and others, said there is no longer time to organize the elections on schedule “according to international standards.” It offered a possible new date of Dec. 22 for the voting in most areas of the country.
The Iraqi government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, told The Associated Press that the Cabinet plans to meet Monday to discuss election dates.
A delay would offer some breathing room to lawmakers trying to overcome Kurdish objections.
But any indefinite postponements would certainly bring outcry from the Sunnis, whose uprising against al-Qaeda last year was considered critical in uprooting insurgent strongholds and helping in the sharp drop in violence around Iraq.
Iraq’s government has recently made some high-profile strides toward building new bonds with Sunnis, who were privileged under Saddam Hussein but felt alienated by the Shiite-dominated forces that replaced him.
Nearly 1,700 new police graduates — many part of Saddam’s security forces — paraded Sunday in the largest graduating class from the Baghdad Police College.
In the western province of Anbar, the government announced the reopening of an oil refinery in an area once controlled by Sunni insurgents. The refinery, located near the Syrian border, was closed in 2005 due to deteriorating security.
On Saturday, Iraq’s largest Sunni political bloc ended a nearly one-year boycott of the government after parliament approved six Sunni officials to take seats in the Cabinet.
Separately, in the country’s south, a new airport opened in Najaf in what the prime minister said was a key step in the reconstruction of a country devastated by war.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, mostly Iranians, travel to Iraq every year to visit Shiite shrines in Najaf and another holy city, Karbala. The new $250 million airport is expected to boost the numbers of pious tourists.
“We were determined to face the terrorism that was about to destroy Iraq. The strong will of the federal government has fought and defeated it in all of its forms,” Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said at a ceremony to open the airfield.
In northern Iraq, the U.S. military said American soldiers killed two armed relatives of a provincial governor during a raid in Salahuddin province against al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The military said in a statement the soldiers were acting in self-defense when they shot the relatives of Hamad Hammoud, governor of Salahuddin province. It says the slain men showed “hostile intent.” The deputy governor, Abdullah Hussein Jabarah, says the slain men were the son and nephew of the governor. The U.S. military said a financier for al-Qaeda in Iraq was wounded and captured.
