68converted
11-24-2009, 09:18 AM
11/24/09 9:28 est.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5AN1DO20091124
By Waleed Ibrahim (http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=waleed.ibrahim&)
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq will be unable to hold a national election in January as planned, a poll official said on Tuesday, heaping more uncertainty on a vote meant to cement democracy and pave the way for a partial U.S. troop withdrawal.
The general election was supposed to be held between January 18-23, but Iraq's Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Muslim, last week vetoed a law needed to hold the polls on grounds that Iraqis abroad were under-represented.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis fled the sectarian violence triggered by the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, and many are Sunni.
Parliament returned the law to the presidential council, including Hashemi, on Monday, but deliberately failed to address his concerns and in all likelihood it will be vetoed again.
"In all cases the possibility of holding the vote in January is over," said Faraj al-Haidari, head of the electoral commission. More...
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5AN1DO20091124
By Waleed Ibrahim (http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=waleed.ibrahim&)
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq will be unable to hold a national election in January as planned, a poll official said on Tuesday, heaping more uncertainty on a vote meant to cement democracy and pave the way for a partial U.S. troop withdrawal.
The general election was supposed to be held between January 18-23, but Iraq's Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Muslim, last week vetoed a law needed to hold the polls on grounds that Iraqis abroad were under-represented.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis fled the sectarian violence triggered by the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, and many are Sunni.
Parliament returned the law to the presidential council, including Hashemi, on Monday, but deliberately failed to address his concerns and in all likelihood it will be vetoed again.
"In all cases the possibility of holding the vote in January is over," said Faraj al-Haidari, head of the electoral commission. More...