Iraqi Parliament fails to pass latest election law..

Along with all the other problems in Iraq this is just one more. The U.S. has withdrawn very few troops but intended to withdraw many after the successful January election. However, there is still no agreement on an election law. One issue is whether the voters will vote for individual candidates. It would seem elementary that voters should know who they are voting for but this is not so with the so-called closed list system. If this is not agreed to many may even boycott the elections. Other issues concern the status of certain areas claimed by the Kurds. There is also supposed to be a referendum on the SOFA agreement with the US but the US has been trying to derail that. Originally the issue was to be voted on by last August. The western press does not even talk about this issue not even Glenn BeckGlenn Beck!!

""Antiwar.com -

Iraqi Parliament Shoots Down Latest Compromise Election Law

Posted By Jason Ditz On October 27, 2009 @ 6:15 pm In Uncategorized | No Comments

Just one day after President Jalal TalabaniJalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-MalikiNouri al-Maliki agreed on a "compromise" election law, Iraq's parliament discussed it and quickly fell into deadlock, effectively ending hope of a quick end to the dispute.

Parliament has been struggling with this law for over a month now, and is nearly two weeks past the formal deadline for passing a new law to government the January elections.

The consequences of delaying the vote would be serious, with Shi'ite religious leaders warning of chaos if this happens. At the same time, the Shi'ite clergy is the driving force behind the push for the new law, which would allow direct election of candidates instead of voting for largely anonymous blocs. ""