Hashemi’s veto aims to ensure more seats- paper

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi’s veto of the election law aims to allocate more seats to the country’s Sunni Arabs in the next parliament, which is almost assured of having a Shiite majority, The Washington Post said in a report. “Iraq’s vice president on Wednesday vetoed legislation to organize the country’s parliamentary elections in January, throwing the law back to a Parliament that had haggled for months before finally passing it last week,” according to the newspaper. “The veto by Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi was the latest wrinkle in growing criticism over the law by the country’s biggest minorities, Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Both groups are effectively demanding the allocation of more seats to their blocs in the next parliament, which is almost assured of having a Shiite Muslim majority.” “On Tuesday, Kurdish officials threatened to boycott the vote in the three provinces they control in northern Iraq unless they were granted a greater share of seats,” the report added. SS (P)/SR 1