Iraq Delays Election Law Vote – Again

From BBC News:

Iraqi MPs delay election law vote

Sunday, 1 November 2009

Iraqi MPs say they are not yet ready to pass an election law that needs to be approved urgently if polls are to be held on schedule in January.

The UN had warned that it could not guarantee to endorse the polls if the bill was not approved on Sunday.

MPs have told the BBC that the vote might not be held for several days as several sticking points remain.

There are fears that delaying the election could undo recent progress towards greater stability in Iraq.

The poll is seen as crucial to the stability of the country, and any delay could impact on the US plan for withdrawal.

The Obama administration wants to pull all its combat troops out by the end of August next year, in preparation for a full military withdrawal by 2012.

The electoral law is meant to be in place at least 90 days before voting takes place, and Iraq’s election body says it needs to be adopted by Tuesday.

Pressure from the UN, the US and Iraqi political and religious leaders has so far failed to break the deadlock in the Iraqi parliament.

MPs say the UN has proposed a compromise to the main sticking points – on how candidates are listed on the ballot paper and the distribution of seats in the ethnically divided, oil-rich city of Kirkuk…

How absolutely wonderful.

The UN had warned that it could not guarantee to endorse the polls if the bill was not approved on Sunday.

After all the blood and treasure we have spent in Iraq, the United Nations is calling the shots?

Tell them to go to hell Somalia.

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