By Xinhua,
Baghdad : Iraqi presidential council has approved the provincial election law, an official television reported on Tuesday.
“The presidential council unanimously approved the provincial councils’ elections law,” the state-run Iraqi channel quoted Nasiral-Aani, head of the office of the presidency council, as saying.
On July 22, the Iraqi parliament approved the law although the Kurds walked out protesting a secret vote exclusively held over an article dealing with the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
The disputes postponed the elections which is scheduled to be held on Oct. 1 in the Kirkuk. The presidency council, which consists of President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, Vice President Tariqal-Hashimi, a Sunni Arab and Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite, vetoed the draft.
A parliamentary fact-finding committee was formed to watch power-sharing and revise demographic changes and violations on private properties before and after 2003, and accordingly, there would be a separate law for the election in the province.
The Iraqi parliament on Sept. 24 approved a new provincial election law after reaching a consensus among the conflicted political blocs, and called for holding the vote no later than Jan.31, 2009.
All the sides in the parliament have agreed about the controversial issue of Kirkuk, which would have a separate law in dealing with the elections, after solving the power-sharing issue in the city.