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The Saga of Iraqi General Elections
Iraqi parliamentary speaker Dr. Ayad al-Samara'i
As we reported yesterday, Iraqi Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi vetoed the elections law because, according to him, it has not provided enough seats for Iraqis currently living outside the country.
The constitutional court, the highest legal body in the country, decided yesterday that the vice-presidential veto was unconstitutional, but has concurrently determined that there can be no discrimination between Iraqis in Iraq and Iraqis residing abroad – which is tantamount to saying that Iraqis overseas are eligible for more seats than were initially allocated to them under the elections law. This was precisely the main thrust of the argument made by Al-Hashemi in vetoing the elections law.
Al-Hashemi's authority to veto the law arises from a constitutional provision that laws passed by parliament must be approved unanimously by all three members of the president's council before they go into effect and, in this case, only two members voted for the law.
Iraqi parliamentary speaker Dr. Ayad Al-Samara'i has decided convene the parliament on Saturday to vote on overriding the vice-presidential veto.
[Overriding the veto requires a two-thirds majority. The Kurds and the Sunnis, each group for its own reason, might vote against overriding the veto, and the election could be thrown into turmoil. Throughout these difficult times, the Iraqi president has been in Europe on state visits to France and Poland. His absence can only be interpreted as an escape from the pressure that he would have had to face from his Kurdish compatriots to veto the law. ]
Sources: Al-Rafidayn; www.uragency.net; www.babnews.com, November 19, 2009
Posted at: 2009-11-20
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