By Xinhua,
Baghdad : Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) urged Wednesday the three-member presidency council to reject the controversial provincial election draft law approved by the parliament on Tuesday.
In a statement posted on its website, the KRG denounced the secret voting that led to the approval of the election bill, saying the move was a violation of the constitution and the internal system of the parliament which was built on consensus among the political blocs since the collapse of Saddam Hussein regime in 2003.
On Tuesday, the Iraqi parliament approved the U.S.-backed provincial election law though the Kurdish lawmakers walked out to protest a secret vote exclusively held over an article dealing with the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
According to Iraq’s constitution, the draft law should be delivered to the presidency council for an unanimous approval. The council consists of President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni Arab and Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite.
A spokesperson of Kurdish presidency said “Kurdish presidency condemns this unordinary behavior by the speaker of the Iraqi parliament and those who joined him, Kurdish region doesn’t recognize the outcome of this illegal voting.”
For his part, Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish region, is expected to visit Baghdad soon to discuss important issues, including the endorsement of the provincial election law, a Kurdish official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The provincial election law which would shift more political power to local levels, is strongly backed by Washington, as U.S. officials see the voting as another key step in the Iraqi national reconciliation.
The Sunni Arabs boycotted the election in 2005 for the Shiites and Kurds took control locally, even in some Sunni-dominated regions.
The newly proposed elections are widely expected to ease sectarian and ethnic resentment by redistributing power at the local level.
Yet, the dispute among Iraq’s Arabs, Kurds and Turks about the control of the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk has been the major stumbling block to the passage of the legislation, which should have been completed by June.