Parliament’s chairmanship meets with legal committee

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The parliament’s chairmanship is holding a meeting with the legal committee to discuss depending on the 2009 voter register during the coming parliamentary elections, a lawmaker from the Independent Arab bloc said on Wednesday. “Arab and Turkmen lawmakers rejects this proposal,” he said, ruling out reaching an agreement during today’s session. Iraqi politicians have been turning up their rhetoric over Kirkuk, the oil-rich city that both Kurds in the north and Arabs in the south want to control. The dispute has caused a deadlock over the country’s election law, threatening to delay Iraq’s nationwide elections set for January. Any vote setback could, in turn, disrupt American plans to withdraw troops from Iraq, scheduled to ramp up after the vote. The immediate dispute centers on voting rolls listing who can vote in Kirkuk in the January national election. Kurds have favored using the 2009 voter registry, which probably reflects the Kurdish growth, while Arabs generally prefer the 2004 voter registry, when the Kurdish population wasn’t so large. That has delayed the necessary deal on the election law. Any delay in the election date could push back the U.S. withdrawal. U.S. officials have said that they are still hoping the Jan. 16th date will go forward but say their troop drawdown plan is not set in stone. As the election approaches, tensions have increased among lawmakers in Iraq. SH (S) 1