71 lawmakers demand no postponing elections in Kirkuk

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: MP from the Kurdistan Alliance (KA), Wallied Sherka, said on Monday that 71 lawmakers presented a request to the parliament’s chairmanship, in which they demand not to postpone the elections in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk. Speaking at a press conference in Baghdad, attended by IraqiNews.com news agency, Sherka said “71 lawmakers from different parliamentary blocs gathered signatures and presented them to the parliament’s chairmanship, demanding not to postpone elections in Kirkuk, asserting that holding the elections is a popular demand.” “The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) had announced that the 2004 voter register does not exist throughout Iraq, not just in Kirkuk and the postponement is a violation of article 56 of the constitution,” he said. The Kurds, who form the majority of the population in Kirkuk, have long demanded that the province be incorporated in their autonomous region in the north despite the opposition of its Arab and Turkmen communities. The political deadlock threatens the poll as the electoral law is supposed to be in place 90 days before voting takes place. Constitutionally, the election must be held by January 31. SH (P)/SR 1