Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki criticized Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi for vetoing the elections law, saying that his action posed "a great danger for the political process, the security situation, and the economic achievements made under the government of national unity."
Al-Maliki added that the use of the veto was in violation of the constitution.
In response, Al-Hashemi's office said that such allegations "are desperate calls made by elements who wish to cast doubts on the efforts made by the vice president" to help Iraqis residing outside the country. He described these elements as "escapists" who should remain quiet.
It is not unlikely that al-Hashemi will use his constitutional right of vetoing the elections law for the second and last time.
The elections, originally scheduled for January 18, are bound to be postponed because the Elections Commission would require 60 days after it is notified that the presidency council has approved the elections law, which remains in doubt.
Iraqi parliamentary speaker Ayad Al-Samara'i declared categorically that holding the elections in January is impossible.
The postponement of the elections could rekindle the sectarian conflicts as well as the conflict between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government over the allocation of seats to the provinces and the criteria used for determining their number.
If elections are postponed beyond the end of January, there will be a need for a constitutional amendment to prolong the life of the present parliament and to change the status of the government into that of a caretaker government. A constitutional vacuum in Iraq, even for a few days, could prolong the political crisis in Iraq whose nature and duration would be hard to predict.
On the part of the U.S. both President Obama and Vice President Biden have kept in touch with the Iraqi politicians, urging them to pass the elections law.
Sources: Uragency, Iraq, November 27, 2009; Al-Sharq al-Awsat, London, November 28, 2009; Al-Fayhaa TV, November 28, 2009; Al-Zaman, Iraq, November 30, 2009
