Removal of article 50 from the provincial election law and the protests of the Aramean Christians

******Aramean protest against the removal of article 50******

Protest:

Iraqi lawmaker attempts to reassure Christians of rights

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/iraqi.lawmaker.attempts.to.reassure.christians.of.rights/21601.htm

7-10-2008

A senior lawmaker in Iraq spoke on Monday of the “urgent” need to resolve a dispute with the country’s tiny Christian community over the removal of a minority quota system in the provincial elections. Christians in Iraq, who number less than three per cent of the population, fear that last month’s decision by the Iraqi parliament to drop the quota system in six of Iraq’s 18 provinces will exclude them from the political process. The deputy speaker of parliament, Khalid al-Attiyah, was quoted by the Associated Press as telling a news conference on Monday, “No political bloc in parliament has the intention of denying small ethnic minorities their constitutional rights.

“There is an urgent need to solve this matter."

The Rev Louis al-Shabi, a preacher at a Chaldean church in Baghdad, said meanwhile, "We do not want to immigrate to the US or Britain - we want to stay in Iraq and have our representatives in both the provincial councils and the legislature. We want to be treated equally as Iraqis living with the Muslims and other nationals in a united brotherly spirit."

The UN last week urged the Iraqi parliament to reinstate article 50, which guarantees minorities a certain number of seats on provincial councils. The Iraqi parliament claimed that Article 50 had been dropped because it was impossible to know the size of the minorities and therefore how many seats they should be allocated.

The head of Iraq’s independent electoral commission, Faraj al-Haidari, told AP that preparations for elections would not be finished in time for them to be held before the end of the year. He said, however, that the commission would work towards meeting the legal deadline of January 31.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani gave assurances, meanwhile, that the election law would be modified to accommodate minority representation.

The law “is not consistent with the constitution, nor with what we feel is needed for Iraq”, he said, according to AsiaNews.

Protest:

Iraqi lawmaker urges resolution of minority issue

Iraqi lawmaker calls for urgent resolution of minorities issue; Christians protest

http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=409766

QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

AP News

Oct 06, 2008 10:32 EST

A senior Iraqi lawmaker on Monday called for an urgent resolution to Christian demands for a minority quota system in upcoming provincial elections, while the electoral commission ruled out any possibility of holding the vote this year.

Dozens of Christians protested over the issue at a rally near a church in Baghdad, saying the exclusion of the quota would marginalize their community, which comprises an estimated 3 percent of Iraq's 26 million people.

"We do not want to immigrate to the U.S. or Britain — we want to stay in Iraq and have our representatives in both the provincial councils and the legislature," said the Rev. Louis al-Shabi, a preacher at a Chaldean church in Baghdad.

"We want to be treated equally as Iraqis living with the Muslims and other nationals in a united brotherly spirit," he added.

The issue has threatened to overshadow preparations for the upcoming vote for provincial councils throughout Iraq.

Faraj al-Haidari, the head of Iraq's independent electoral commission, said it would not be possible to hold the vote this year as had been hoped but said the panel would do its best to meet a Jan. 31 legal deadline.

Al-Haidari said there's not enough time to finish preparations for the election before year's end and a dispute over minority demands for a quota system was also complicating matters.

"It is definitely impossible to hold the elections this year," al-Haidari told The Associated Press in a telephone interview on Monday from Beirut, Lebanon.

He said the date for the vote will be announced within two weeks.

In preparation, the independent elections commission will start registering candidates and political blocs on Oct. 15, he said. Officials also need to update voter lists, design the ballot papers and other technicalities, he added.

Iraq's parliament last month finally approved a law paving the way for elections to be held by Jan. 31 for provincial councils after months of deadlock but minorities were upset that it excluded quotas for them.

Deputy parliamentary speaker Khalid al-Attiyah, a Shiite, said options included passing an amendment based on that article or using outdated prewar census data to come up with a different formula.

"No political bloc in parliament has the intention of denying small ethnic minorities their constitutional rights," al-Attiyah said at a press conference. "There is an urgent need to solve this matter."

The vote, which U.S. officials hope will promote national unity and stem support for violence, initially was due to be held in October.

In a separate development, a plane carrying Iraq's Sunni parliamentary speaker was not allowed to land Monday in Iran, forcing him to return to Baghdad, an official said.

Mahmoud al-Mashhadani was on an Iraqi Airways commercial flight to Tehran, but the plane was turned away after airport officials were informed dignitaries were on board, the official said.

The official from al-Mashhadani's office, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, said Iranian authorities gave no reason for denying permission for the plane to land.

Later, however, Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted a senior Iranian lawmaker, Mohsen Koohkan, as saying the problem was the type of plane and not with al-Mashhadani.

Koohkan did not specify the aircraft type or say what the problem with it was.

According to the report, Koohkan said Iran's parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani talked to al-Mashhadani by phone about the incident. "There is no problem for al-Mashhadani to come to Tehran," Koohkan was quoted as saying.

Iraqi media earlier had reported that al-Mashhadani was leading a parliamentary delegation on an official visit to mainly Shiite Iran.

Iran's hard-line Shiite theocracy maintains close ties to Iraqi Shiites, who make up about 60 percent of the country's population and dominate the government.

Iraq's Sunni minority is highly suspicious of such ties, while the U.S. military has accused Iran of trying to undermine the American effort to stabilize the country.

Al-Mashhadani has traveled to Iran before, but his last visit was in 2007, according to his office.

Protest:

Iraq Christians demand reserved council seats

http://www.metimes.com/Politics/2008/10/06/iraq_christians_demand_reserved_council_seats/afp/

6-10-2008

"We can find no explanation for the repeal of the article," the bishop said.

"We defend the rights that have been stolen from us and call on the authorities to ensure that there is no discrimination.

"With one voice, we appeal to our leaders -- (President) Jalal Talabani, (Prime Minister) Nuri al-Maliki, (parliament speaker) Mahmud al-Mashhadani, (Shiite spiritual leader) Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and the (Sunni) Association of Muslim Scholars to restore Article 50."

The dropping of the clause from the law adopted by parliament has drawn criticism from the United Nations as well as Iraqi minorities.

When Iraq's three-man presidency council ratified the law on Friday, it urged MPs to reconsider their decision to omit the provision.

Christians already held protests against parliament's decision in the main northern city of Mosul earlier this month.

About 400,000 Christians live in Iraq, half the number there were before the US-led invasion of 2003. The country also has other minority groups including the Yazidis, a non-Muslim Kurdish community.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has called on the electoral commission to ensure that the rights of minority communities are protected by the law.

Protest:

Iraqi Christians claim loss of rights in new elections law

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1433074.php

25-9-2008

Protest:

Iraqi Christians Protest At Election Law

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26929108/

Sept. 28, 2008

MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) -- Crowds of Iraqi Christians protested on Sunday against a newly approved provincial election law, saying the legislation failed to represent the interests of the minority community.

Protestors shouted slogans against Baghdad's Shiite-led government and against the law in the town of Al-Kosh near the restive northern city of Mosul, carrying Iraqi flags and banners that said "No! No! to dictatorship".

Last week, Iraq's parliament passed controversial legislation setting a January 31 deadline for elections in 14 provinces, excluding the three Kurdish provinces and the disputed oil-rich province of Kirkuk.

Leaders of Iraq's Christian community claim the law does not provide for their representation in the councils that would be formed after the vote.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged the election commission to ensure that the rights of minority communities are protected in the law.

"We are committed to guarantee a fair representation of all Iraqi components and defend their rights," he said in a statement issued by his office.

Iraq has around 400,000 Christians, a number that has shrunk in half since US-led forces invaded in 2003. The country also has other minority sects such as the Yazidis in the northern regions.

Sixty percent of Iraq's 27 million people are Shiite Muslims with Sunni Arabs and Kurds accounting for most of the remaining 40 percent.

************Removal Article 50**************

Removal Article 50:

Waiting for minority quota election law given the green light

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=13431&geo=23&size=A

8-10-2008

Next provincial elections on 31 January 2009 will be conducted under the new law which has been formally adopted. Presidency Council asks parliament to reintroduce Article 50 in a new vote to guarantee minorities, including Christians, a certain number of seats.

Removal Article 50:

At Least Saddam Protected the Rights of Religious Minorities

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/101750/at_least_saddam_protected_the_rights_of_religious_minorities/

By Fatih Abdulsalam, Azzaman. Posted October 6, 2008.

Iraqi legislators have revoked a paragraph in the constitution that gave a set of seats for Iraqi minorities in provincial councils.

The reason they cited was that there was no "authentic count" of the number of these minorities in the country.

But this is a baseless excuse and pretext to violate the rights of Iraqi Christians, Shebeks, Sabeans and Yazidis. There must have been other reasons which prompted the parliament to take a decision that has alienated an important and crucial component of the Iraqi society.

Iraqi minorities thought they would be treated much better than under former leader Saddam Hussein, whose regime the U.S. toppled in 2003.

But they now find themselves in far worse conditions. At least Saddam Hussein respected their religious rights and their way of worship. His regime is credited with the building of scores of churches and places of worship for all Iraqi minorities.

Today, these minorities have been worst hit by U.S. occupation and the surge in violence it caused.

To say the government lacks credible counts of Iraqi minorities is a big lie. Such counts could have easily been obtained from their religious leaders.

Moreover, conducting such a count is not that difficult given the fact that the remaining numbers of these minorities now predominantly live in northern Iraq.

For the U.S. and its puppet government everything in Iraq now either falls under the category of minority or majority. And who is a minority or majority depends on which sect, religion or ethnic group you belong to.

If your are a Shiite you see Shiite majority across the country. If you are a Kurd you see Kurdish majority even in traditional Arab heartland, and so on and so forth.

There are no credible counts in Iraq for almost everything. No one knows for sure who the majority is and who the minority is.

This applies to Arabs and Kurds. It applies to Shiites and Sunnis.

But only the weakest and powerless in the society have to pay for the lack of authentic counts.

Iraqi minorities, who thought they would be better off under a U.S.-protected government, suddenly find themselves without protection.

Removal Article 50:

UN criticises Iraq’s new election law

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=13405&geo=23&size=A

6-10-2008 16:23

UN special envoy hopes for the return of Article 50 which guarantees seats to ethnic and religious minorities in upcoming provincial council elections. Muslim community shows its solidarity to Kirkuk’s Christian community.
 

Removal Article 50:

Iraq: Election law must cater for minority rights says UN envoy

New York, 2 Oct. (AKI) - The top United Nations official in Iraq has called on the country’s lawmakers to reinstate a key provision safeguarding minorities in the new provincial election law.

The guarantees for minorities provided by Article 50 - removed from the provincial election law passed last week - is fundamental to democracy in Iraq, said Staffan de Mistura, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative for Iraq.

“Article 50 is a strong indication Iraq is a nation ready to protect the political rights of minorities as founded in the Constitution,” De Mistura said.

“I was surprised and disappointed that Article 50 was not included in the provincial election law,” he added.

De Mistura (photo) is also head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

He reiterated that UNAMI will continue its consultations with political leaders and minority groups to ensure that Article 50 be reintroduced in law after the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

“Article 50 has the backing of minority groups, political blocs and UNAMI and should now be reinstated into the legislation as soon as possible so minorities can participate in the upcoming elections to be held sometime before 31 January 2009,” de Mistura said.

After months of infighting, Iraq's parliament on 24 September passed the crucial legislation that will allow most of the country to hold provincial elections early next year.

The law is seen as a key step toward bringing under-represented groups back into Iraqi politics, particularly Sunnis in Anbar province who have recently turned against violence and Al-Qaeda extremists.

The United States and the United Nations also hope that holding elections soon will help solidify recent improvements in security in Iraq.

Removal Article 50:

UN criticises Iraqi election law

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7649196.stm

2-10-2008

The UN special representative for Iraq has criticised its MPs for dropping an election law clause which was designed to protect minority rights.

Staffan de Mistura said he was "surprised and disappointed" the clause had been omitted and called for it to be reinstated as soon as possible.   Article 50 would have guaranteed a certain number of seats on provincial councils for Iraq's many minorities. On Sunday, Christians protested against the legislation in Baghdad and Mosul.   Their leaders said the new law, passed to international acclaim last month, was unfair and an indirect attempt to force them to leave.   Iraq's ethnic and religious minorities have been targeted mainly by Sunni extremist groups since the US-led invasion in 2003.   'Fundamental for democracy'

In a statement on Thursday, Mr de Mistura said he had been concerned by the removal of the quota system for minorities from the election law.

"I was surprised and disappointed that Article 50 was not included in the provincial elections law," he said.

"Article 50 has the backing of minority groups, political blocs and UNAMI [United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq] and should now be reinstated into the legislation as soon as possible so minorities can participate in the upcoming elections to be held sometime before 31 January 2009."

Mr de Mistura emphasised that protecting the human rights of minorities was fundamental to a democratic Iraq.

"Article 50 is a strong indication Iraq is a nation ready to protect the political rights of minorities as founded in the constitution," he added.

The UN envoy promised to continue consultations with Iraqi political leaders to ensure that the clause was reinserted into the election law by the Council of Representatives before 15 October, when the electoral commission opens nominations for candidates.

After Sunday's protest by Christian groups, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki urged the election commission to ensure that minority rights were protected.

"We are committed to guarantee a fair representation of all Iraqi components and defend their rights," he said in a statement.

Correspondents say the provincial elections are part of a US-backed plan to reconcile rival groups, particularly Sunni Arabs, who boycotted the last round in 2005.

The law allowing them to be held before the end of January in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces was passed only after months of debate over how it would be applied to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

Removal Article 50:

Iraq presidency approves provincial election law

http://www.alarabiya.tv/articles/2008/10/03/57615.html

Friday, 03 October 2008

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (AlArabiya.net)

Iraq's 3-member presidential council agreed on Friday to ratify the country's provincial elections law, paving the way for a long-awaited vote to be held by the end of January, officials said.

The polls had been scheduled for Oct. 1st, but the law governing how the vote should be conducted stalled in parliament over how to treat the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, where control is disputed by Kurds, Arabs and ethnic Turkmen.

President Jalal Talabani and Vice Presidents Adel Abdel Mahdi and Tareq al-Hashemi were all present at the meeting, which was also attended by Massud Barzani, president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

Parliament adopted a revised version last month which puts off a decision on Kirkuk while authorizing the election in other provinces.

"The presidency council has agreed to ratify the provincial elections law," the head of the presidential office, Naseer al-Ani, said.
 

The 3-member council has the power to veto laws. Talabani is a Kurd, Abdul-Mehdi is a Shiite Arab and Hashemi is a Sunni Arab, representing the country's three main ethnic and sectarian groups.

Talabani used his veto power to reject a previous version of the bill in July after Kurds, angry over the Kirkuk issue, boycotted the parliamentary session that passed it.

Officials at the meeting suggested a clause that guaranteed council seats for Christians and other minority sects, known as article 50, could be added to the bill.

Parliament removed the guaranteed seats for minorities from the bill, prompting street demonstrations by Christians last week. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has asked for the quotas to be restored.

"There has been agreement to ratify the law and send it to parliament with the suggestion of the addition of article 50," said Laith Shubbar, an official at Abdul-Mehdi's office.

The elections, which will select provincial councils across Iraq, will provide clues on how Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish factions will fare in national polls scheduled for late 2009.

Elections will be held early next year in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces. The new law excludes the disputed northern oil province of Kirkuk and the three Kurdish provinces of Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah.

Removal Article 50:

Iraq presidency approves provincial election law

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081003/wl_mideast_afp/iraqvotelaw_081003100650

Oct 3, 2008

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AFP) - Iraq's three-member presidency council on Friday approved a long-delayed provincial election law, clearing the final hurdle for polls to go head early next year, an official present at the meeting told AFP.

"The presidency council has adopted the provincial election law," said the official, who is a member of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party.

Talabani and Vice Presidents Adel Abdel Mahdi and Tareq al-Hashemi were all present at the meeting, which was also attended by Massud Barzani, president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

The council's stamp of approval means Iraq can now finally go ahead with the polls which had originally been scheduled for October 1.

Iraq's 275-member parliament finally passed the law on September 24 but, in a move that has drawn UN criticism, MPs scrapped a key clause that would have reserved seats on provincial councils for Christians and other minorities.

The presidency council called on MPs to reinstate the clause, the official said.

Elections will be held early next year in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces. The new law excludes the disputed northern oil province of Kirkuk and the three Kurdish provinces of Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah.

Removal Article 50:

Iraq presidency approves provincial election law

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jmCIE2FFs11op0y2IsDmholhQZQw

Oct 3, 2008

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AFP) — Iraq's three-member presidency council on Friday approved a long-delayed provincial election law, clearing the final hurdle for polls to go ahead early next year, an official present at the meeting told AFP.

"The presidency council has adopted the provincial election law," said the official, who is a member of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party.

Talabani and Vice Presidents Adel Abdel Mahdi and Tareq al-Hashemi were all present at the meeting, which was also attended by Massud Barzani, president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

The council's stamp of approval means Iraq can finally go ahead with the polls -- a key benchmark set by Washington for achieving national reconciliation -- which were originally scheduled for October 1.

The law is expected to empower the new provincial councils to press ahead with economic reconstruction.

Iraq's 275-member parliament passed the law on September 24 but, in a move that has drawn UN criticism, MPs scrapped a key clause that would have reserved seats on provincial councils for Christians and other minorities.

The presidency council called on lawmakers to reinstate the clause, the official said.

Elections will be held early next year in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces. The new law excludes the disputed northern oil province of Kirkuk and the three Kurdish provinces of Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah.

During the passage of the law in parliament, MPs agreed to postpone the polls in Kirkuk. Elections there will not be held until after March 2009 and the existing multi-communal council will continue to administer the province.

A committee consisting of two representatives each from its Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen communities and one from the Christian community will work to prepare the groundwork for the organisation of elections in Kirkuk.

The province has been bitterly contested ever since Saddam Hussein's Sunni Arab dominated regime poured in Arab settlers, both Sunni and Shiite, in a bid to change its ethnic makeup and prevent its oil wealth falling into the hands of Kurdish rebels.

On Thursday, UN special representative Staffan de Mistura criticised MPs for dropping Article 50, the clause reserving council seats for Iraq's minority communities.

He called for the clause to be reinstated by October 15.

"There is a need to reconsider the situation in order not to deprive Christians and other minorities of their rights, because it is a dangerous precedent," Deputy Prime Minister Barhem Saleh, a Kurd, said on Friday.

"There will be cooperation with the parliament to correct the situation."

Although the bill is now effectively a law, parliament can amend the legislation.

About 400,000 Christians live in Iraq, half the number there were before the US-led invasion of 2003. The country also has other minority groups including the Yazidis, a non-Muslim Kurdish community.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has also called on the electoral commission to ensure that the rights of minority communities are protected by the law

Removal Article 50:

New Provincial Election Law Passes in Iraq

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/09/provincial_elections_law.html

By Brian Katulis, Peter Juul | September 26, 2008

After a lengthy delay, the Iraqi parliament earlier this week finally passed a provincial elections law. While a date has not been finalized, the legislation contains a January 31, 2009 deadline for holding elections. The complex problem of Kirkuk, which had caused Iraqi President and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Jalal Talabani to veto an earlier draft provincial elections law, has been set aside for the moment.

This vote represents an important step forward, but even holding these elections will require additional steps. Prematurely declaring mission accomplished, as this Washington Post editorial did, is unwise. Overstating the achievement would ignore the fact that less than one-third of the initial 18 benchmarks for Iraq’s political transition have been achieved.

Fewer than one in five Iraqi voters eligible to participate in the election are registered to vote, and only about 100,000 of the more than 2 million internally displaced Iraqis have registered. There are no provisions for the millions of Iraqi refugees outside of the country to participate.

Moreover, provincial elections will not occur in 4 of Iraq’s 18 provinces. The Kurdistan Regional Government has decided to not to hold elections in its three provinces, and Tamim province, in which Kirkuk resides, has been removed from this round of provincial elections per the terms of the United Nations-brokered compromise. A parliamentary committee composed of Kurds, Arabs, Turkomans, and Christians will formulate recommendations to resolve the status of Kirkuk by March 31, 2009. Barring rejection of the committee’s recommendations by one of the major groups or parliament, the Council of Representatives will then pass a separate election law for Tamim province.

Other sections of the law include ensuring 25 percent of the elected provincial council representatives are female and eliminating an earlier article that provided 13 guaranteed seats for minority groups such as Christians and Yazidis. U.N. special envoy Staffan di Mastura, who brokered the elections law, expressed hope that a provision for minority inclusion in the government would be incorporated at a later date.

So what’s the takeaway from the passage of this law? The ability of the Iraqi parliament, working with the assistance of the United Nations, to craft a mutually acceptable law after such acrimony earlier this summer should not be underestimated. And provincial elections, assuming they go forward before the January 31 deadline and are as free and fair as possible, can go a long way to giving political power to currently marginal groups.

Nevertheless, we need to be realistic about what’s actually been accomplished. Most important is the perception and reality of free and fair elections. Failing to meet the January 31 deadline for elections will reinforce the perception that those in power at the provincial level, at least, intend to remain in power no matter the cost. There is also a legitimate fear of electoral manipulation; the Iraqi government may use the levers of state power to ensure outcomes favorable to it and its political allies.

In the bigger picture, provincial elections may complicate rather than move forward Iraq’s political transition. As we argued in our recent report, Iraq has a number of distinct political fault-lines and challenges that will not be cured with a new round of elections. A more fractured political system—with different parties in power at local and national levels—may be the likely result of provincial elections, making progress more difficult on other issues like oil and revenue-sharing laws and constitutional reform.

The process of passing the elections law revealed deep rifts among Iraq’s political factions. Placing primacy on elections over resolving Iraq’s deep political disputes places the cart before the horse. The elections law itself was delayed by the Arab-Kurd dispute over Kirkuk, and the compromise to pass it, which merely kicked the Kirkuk problem down the road with no guarantee of its ultimate resolution. Nonetheless, the work of the United Nations and special envoy di Mastura on brokering the compromise does make the prospects for further U.N.-led compromises look better.

Above all, the passage of the elections law shows that the United States is not the principal driver of events in Iraq. Iraqis themselves, with the help of neutral international organizations like the United Nations, drove the politics that impeded and then passed the elections law. The more American policymakers and politicians recognize this reality, the more likely the United States will be able to salvage a suboptimal but acceptable outcome in Iraq.

Removal Article 50:

Parliament Approves Elections Law in Iraq

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/24/AR2008092400752_pf.html

By Sudarsan Raghavan; Washington Post Foreign Service
 

Thursday, September 25, 2008; A13

BAGHDAD, Sept. 24 -- Iraq's parliament passed a provincial elections law Wednesday that paves the way for balloting in most parts of the country by Jan. 31 and that could help bolster efforts at national reconciliation.

But lawmakers decided to postpone debate over one of the most contentious issues facing Iraq -- the dispute between Arabs, Kurds and Turkmens over power sharing in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. The legislators also did not resolve how to best achieve political representation for Iraq's Christians and other minorities.

U.S. and Iraqi leaders hailed the legislation as a step toward bridging sectarian and political divides. Some voiced hope that Iraq's feuding political parties could push through other stalled legislation, especially proposed laws governing Iraq's oil and gas industries.

Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni Arab, said the elections law "was what the people of Iraq, not the politicians, wanted."

In Washington, President Bush spoke by telephone Wednesday with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Mashhadani. "The president congratulated them for showing great leadership in the passage of the provincial elections law," said Gordon Johndroe, a National Security Council spokesman.

"Today's action demonstrates the ability of Iraq's leaders to work together for the good of the Iraqi people and represents further progress on political reconciliation," Bush said in a statement.

But violence continued to erupt. Gunmen ambushed a force of policemen and U.S.-backed Sunni neighborhood patrols Wednesday, killing 35 in the town of Khan Bani Saad, 15 miles southwest of Baqubah in Diyala province.

The election legislation was approved only after Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen lawmakers agreed to a compromise brokered by the United Nations that calls for the creation of a parliamentary committee to review the status of Kirkuk, which the Kurds seek to incorporate into their autonomous region.

Elections will be held in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces by Jan. 31, lawmakers said. They acknowledged it would be difficult to hold any elections this year, as originally scheduled. Faraj al-Hadari, head of the country's electoral commission, said officials needed at least five months to prepare for the vote once the legislation is passed into law, suggesting that elections could be further delayed.

Iraq's three-member presidency council, led by Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, still needs to approve the vote. Talabani vetoed the last attempt by parliament to pass a measure, but this time the presidency was expected to approve it.

The elections are widely expected to give Iraq's Sunni minority a greater share of political power. Many Sunnis boycotted the last provincial election, in January 2005, enabling Shiite religious parties and the Kurds to gain power, even in some majority-Sunni areas.

Not included in the legislation were three provinces in the Kurdish autonomous region and Tamim province, of which Kirkuk is the capital. Hadari said the Kurdish parliament is responsible for organizing elections in the region, expected to be held next year.

The new parliamentary committee is required by the law to make recommendations for separate legislation on Kirkuk by March.

"The main issues about Kirkuk have not been solved," said Mahmoud Othman, an independent Kurdish legislator. "Now, this deal for the elections may ease the situation. If this committee could normalize the situation of Kirkuk, it could decrease tensions and create good relations between the parties. We have to wait and see."

The legislation also requires women to hold 25 percent of all seats in the provincial councils. "The passage of this law is a great victory for Iraqi women and Iraq," said Alaa Talabani, a Kurdish lawmaker. "I feel happy over the fact that the cause of women has become an acceptable notion, respected and endorsed by the political forums, which is a victory by itself."

Officials from Iraq's minority groups and the United Nations expressed disappointment that minority rights were not adequately addressed in the law. Iraq's Christians and other minorities were hoping to get a specific percentage of provincial seats allocated to them, giving them a greater political voice.

"We the Chaldeo-Christians feel a great disappointment because what was done today was a regression from democratic practices," said Yonadem Kanna, a lawmaker.

"This is a good day for Iraq and democracy, a day in which Iraqis proved they are capable of reaching a consensus," said U.N. envoy Staffan di Mistura. "But still I say on any great day there is always one cloud, which we had not expected, which is the lack of representation for minorities. I hope this can be rectified."

Removal Article 50:

Iraq parliament paves way for provincial elections

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD93DAGDG0

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA – Sep 24, 2008

BAGHDAD (AP) — Under intense U.S. pressure, Iraq's parliament approved a law Wednesday paving the way for the first provincial elections in four years following months of deadlock that American commanders warned could jeopardize the dramatic decline in violence.

The breakthrough came after lawmakers decided to postpone a decision on how to resolve a power-sharing dispute over the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. The Kirkuk controversy has stoked ethnic tensions in northern Iraq and stalled approval of the election bill.

U.S. officials hope the election, which must be held by Jan. 31 according to the new legislation, will give greater representation to minority Sunni Arabs. Many Sunnis and some Shiites boycotted the last provincial election, in January 2005, enabling Shiite religious parties and the Kurds to win a disproportionate share of the seats.

Empowering Sunnis through a new election may reduce support for the waning insurgency — though not among extremist groups.

In the latest bloodshed, suspected al-Qaida in Iraq militants ambushed and killed at least 22 Iraqi police commandos and U.S.-allied Sunni fighters in a village northeast of Baghdad on Wednesday. And in an audio message posted on militant Web sites, the purported leader of the al-Qaida front group the Islamic State in Iraq warned pro-government Sunnis that Shiites and U.S. forces will one day turn on them.

But the vote could also shift the balance of power among Shiite factions. Followers of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are hoping to make large gains in southern provinces, where many of the councils are dominated by rival Shiite parties in the ruling government coalition.

The 275-member Iraqi parliament had been heavily criticized for its inability to pass the law needed to establish the rules and guidelines for the vote. The election had been due as early as Oct. 1, then the date was pushed to the end of December.

U.S. officials have complained privately that Iraqi politicians have failed to take advantage of the sharp drop in violence — down 80 percent since last year, according to the U.S. military — to forge lasting power-sharing agreements.

The head of Iraq's electoral commission said the delay will make it difficult to meet the Jan. 31 deadline but that preparations were already under way.

"I think it will be very difficult to hold the elections this year, but we will try our best to ensure the elections occur before the end of January 2009," Faraj al-Haidari said.

President Bush congratulated the Iraqi parliament for passing the law and called the Sunni speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, to praise their leadership, his office said.

"Nothing is more central to a functioning democracy than free and fair elections," Bush said in a statement. "Today's action demonstrates the ability of Iraq's leaders to work together for the good of the Iraqi people and represents further progress on political reconciliation."

U.N. envoy Staffan di Mistura, who has shuttled relentlessly between the political blocs to pressure them to approve the law, said preparations for the vote would begin immediately.

"Today is an important day for Iraq and democracy as the parliament found a compromise over election law," he said. "This will help Iraq and Iraqis to express their opinions by voting for their candidates in the provinces."

The legislation had been bogged down in a complex dispute among Arabs, Turkomen and Kurds over Kirkuk, which Kurds seek to incorporate into their semiautonomous region.

The measure still needs to be approved by the three-member presidential panel led by President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who vetoed an election bill passed in February after Kurdish lawmakers walked out of parliament.

But Kurdish legislators agreed to the latest proposal, making its adoption more likely. All sides accepted a U.N. compromise to put off the vote in Tamim province, which includes Kirkuk.

Instead, parliament will form a committee to review property disputes and power-sharing concerns and come up with separate legislation for elections there by March 31.

Kurdish legislator Khalid Shewani said the tipping point was an assurance that the committee would work according to the Iraqi constitution.

"Every side had fears but these fears have disappeared after the inclusion of legal guarantees," he said. "We thank God that we reached this agreement."

The new law also banned political parties from using religious authorities, mosques and government institutions as part of campaigning.

Another item specified that 25 percent of the council members must be women — the same quota constitutionally mandated for parliamentary elections, which were last held in December 2005 and drew more Sunni participation. But the thorny issue of how to ensure minorities such as Christians and Yazidis are fairly represented was to be addressed separately by the U.N. envoy.

Voters will choose councils in 14 provinces, which wield considerable power over local security forces and resources, including oil. Excluded from the legislation were the three provinces that make up the semiautonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq since they are governed by the Kurdish parliament, as well as Tamim province, which includes Kirkuk.