**Iraq’s parliament has passed an amended version of the new election law, which was vetoed by one of the country’s two vice-presidents last week.**Tariq al-Hashemi wanted more seats given to the four million displaced Iraqis who he said had fled abroad since 2003.
Sunni groups opposed the new amendments and sources close to Mr Hashemi expect him to veto the bill again.
The law must be approved soon to allow parliamentary polls in January.
The elections - constitutionally required by the end of that month - are seen as a prerequisite to the US meeting its goal of pulling out combat troops by August, ahead of a full withdrawal in 2011.
Population data
The BBC’s Jim Muir in Baghdad says the Iraqi Council of Representatives had to solve two problems - one was the issue raised by Mr Hashemi’s veto; the other was a threat by the Kurds in the north to boycott the election because they regarded the number of seats they had been allocated as unfair.
“This has widened the problem and we are heading into a dark tunnel”
Alaa Makki
Sunni Accordance Front
Will disputes derail the election
Compromise solutions were agreed by the main Shia factions and the Kurds, and later passed with a substantial majority, our correspondent says.
They agreed that voters outside Iraq should be able to vote for candidates in their own provinces, as if they were still at home.
To meet the Kurdish complaint, they agreed that populations in the provinces, which act as constituencies, should be based on food ration data from 2005, when the last election was held, and deemed to have increased at a rate of 2.8% per year.
That would give the Kurds more seats than the bill passed by parliament earlier this month and vetoed by Mr Hashemi, but also mean that predominantly Sunni areas would lose some of the extra seats they had been given, our correspondent says.
IRAQI ELECTIONS
- 2003: US appoints Governing Council
- 2004: Governing Council elects interim government
- Aug 2004: National conference elects Interim National Assembly
- Jan 2005: First general elections for Transitional National Assembly and provincial councils
- Dec 2005: General elections for first full-term government and new parliament, the Council of Representatives
- Jan 2009: Polls for provincial councils - key test of security gains
The amendments also failed to increase the representation in parliament of displaced people from 5% of the total to 15%, as Mr Hashemi had demanded.
“This has widened the problem and we are heading into a dark tunnel,” Alaa Makki of the Sunni Accordance Front told the Reuters news agency.
Mr Hashemi is therefore expected to veto the amended law and send it back to parliament. Parliament can, however, override a second veto with a three-fifths majority.
Our correspondent says most MPs seem to be determined to reject the veto this time, meaning the law should eventually go through.
But at the moment, it looks unlikely to happen in time for parliamentary elections to be held in January as planned, he adds.
After Mr Hashemi’s first veto, the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq said it required 60 days notice to prepare for the vote.