Modified Wed, Nov 18, 2009 11:03 PM
Iraqi vote hits new roadblock
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close xBAGHDAD -- Iraq's pivotal national elections were thrown back into turmoil and potential delay Wednesday after Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi vetoed part of an election law and sent it back to parliament.
Successful national elections, which are supposed to take place in January, are a crucial milestone for the departure of U.S. troops from Iraq. President Barack Obama wants to remove all U.S. combat forces from Iraq by Aug. 31.
Al-Hashemi, a Sunni Muslim, charged that the measure doesn't provide adequate representation for millions of displaced Iraqis, most of whom are thought to be Sunnis.
A senior official from Iraq's independent elections commission said it was suspending preparations for the elections, which had just gotten under way last week.
"We halted all sorts of preparations for the next elections because we don't have a date for elections and we don't have a law," said Qassim al-Aboudi, the head of the commission's electoral department.
It wasn't immediately clear how quickly the latest snag in Iraqi politicians' tortuous efforts to arrange the elections could be overcome. Parliament members are scheduled to meet today to debate the changes al-Hashemi has demanded.
"Our hope, obviously, is it will not delay the timing of the elections," said Gen. Raymond Odierno, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.
Odierno said he had until about May 1 to decide whether to ask Obama to alter the Aug. 31 timeline. All U.S. forces are due to be out of Iraq by the end of 2011. Odierno said there were 115,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, a slight reduction from recent levels.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who's a Shiite Muslim, issued a statement saying the veto poses "a serious threat to the political process and democracy ... and didn't put into consideration the higher national interest."
Al-Hashemi's action underscored how sectarian politics still predominates in Iraq, despite a buildup of U.S. troops beginning in 2007 aimed at improving security and providing a climate for political reconciliation.
Ten days ago, Obama praised Iraq's parliament for passing the elections law after nearly a dozen delays. To do so, lawmakers papered over a dispute about voting in the divided Kirkuk region and other areas that are contested by Arabs and ethnic Kurds.
On Tuesday, however, Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani threatened a Kurdish boycott of the polls, charging that Kurdish regions were under-represented in government figures for ration cards, which serve to identify voters.
Preparations for the elections are already behind schedule, and a further delay could complicate logistics, tarnish the elections' legitimacy and, in the worst-case scenario, throw Iraq into a constitutional crisis.
"The veto is unconstitutional and illegal," said Baha al-Araji, the head of parliament's legal committee. Al-Hashemi, "with good intentions, might have served the enemies of Iraq."
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U.S. withdrawal
The U.S. has linked its withdrawal of combat troops to the Iraqi national vote. U.S. military officials have said they will begin to draw down forces about 60 days after the election, hoping for assurances by then that Iraq is on stable footing.
Under a plan by President Barack Obama, all U.S. combat personnel must be out of Iraq by the end of August. The rest of the troops, such as trainers and support personnel, must leave by the end of 2011.
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