Iraq VP Rejects Election Law

BAGHDAD - Iraq's vice president vetoed on Wednesday legislation to organize the country's parliamentary elections in January, throwing the law back to a Parliament that had haggled for months before finally passing it last week.

The veto by Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi was the latest wrinkle in growing criticism over the law by the country's biggest minorities - Sunni Arabs and Kurds - both of whom are effectively demanding the allocation of more seats in the next parliament, which is almost assured of having a Shiite Muslim majority.

On Tuesday, Kurdish officials threatened to boycott the vote in the three provinces they control in northern Iraq unless they were granted a greater share of seats. Hashimi, one of three members of the presidency council, Iraq's executive branch, said Wednesday that he was forced to veto the law because it gave too little representation to the millions of Iraqis forced into exile since 2003. Having sought refuge in Syria, Jordan and elsewhere, they are predominantly Sunni Arabs.

The veto, he said, was a move "to deliver justice to Iraqis living abroad."

The law is necessary for Iraqis to organize the Jan. 18 election, which will likely realign the constellation of power here. The government that follows will rule the fractious country as the U.S. military withdraws its 120,000 troops, and the Obama administration has deemed the vote itself crucial to the pace of that pullout.

In a news conference, Hashimi expressed hope that an amendment to the law might take no more than a day and that he could then ratify the legislation. But promises of quick action by Iraqi politicians have proved elusive in the past. The law that he vetoed was approved by Parliament on Nov. 8 after numerous delays, missed deadlines and disputes, primarily over the question of representation in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, whose control is contested by Arabs, Kurds and Turkmens.

Under the law, Parliament will grow from 275 seats to 323 seats. Hashimi has insisted that the number of seats reserved for exiles increase from 5 percent to 15 percent of the total number. Kurdish officials have yet to insist on a number, but they contend the three additional seats they were awarded are unfair.

Massoud Barzani, the Kurdish president, said the seat allocation system, which is based on food ration cards issued by the Trade Ministry, is "illogical, contradicts the reality on the ground and is a distortion of the facts."

Correspondent Nada Bakri contributed to this report.