BAGHDAD — Iraq’s presidential council on Wednesday rejected a draft provincial-elections law and sent it back to parliament for reworking — a major blow to U.S. hopes that the vote can be held this year.
The decision was likely to delay the elections until next year because there would not be sufficient time to make the necessary preparations. U.S. officials have pushed hard for the polls, which had been due by Oct. 1, as a key step toward repairing Iraq’s sectarian divisions.
The announcement followed stinging criticism by President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, over the methods used to pass the law despite a Kur dish walkout to protest a secret ballot on a section dealing with the disputed city of Kirkuk.
Talabani accused lawmakers of using unconstitutional means to push the legislation through “against the will of the second-largest parliamentary bloc,” warning it could jeopardize national unity and provoke sectarian tensions.
The Kurds hold 58 seats in the 275-member parliament and traditionally ally themselves with majority Shiites.
Iraqi laws must be ratified by the presidential council. But Talabani and Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite, rejected the election plan while Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi was abroad, deputy parliamentary speaker Khalid al-Attiyah told The Associated Press.
Talabani said in his earlier statement that he could not approve a law that was passed by only 127 members of the 275-strong parliament. The body had claimed it had a quorum and the measure was approved by a majority of the 140 lawmakers present. The president also reprimanded lawmakers for using the secret ballot instead of “dealing with the disputed issue on the basis of consensus or agreements.”
It was the latest setback for efforts by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government to overcome criticism that it has failed to take advantage of security gains to make political progress.
The State Department acknowledged the debate over the law was “quite contentious,” spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said. “We urge all parties to remain engaged and to work together and to find a path forward that will allow for provincial election in 2008.”
Kurdish opposition to the equal distribution of provincial council seats among Kurds, Turkomen and Arabs in the oil-rich Kirkuk region — outside Kurdish territory but considered by many Kurds to be part of their historical land — has been a major factor in stalling the law’s approval.
