Xinhua
27 Mar 2023, 21:35 GMT+10
BAGHDAD, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi parliament on Monday approved amendments to the election law despite the objections of independent candidates and smaller parties.
A parliamentary session attended by 218 lawmakers voted to amend the election law of the parliament and provincial councils, the media office of the parliament said in a statement.
"The amendments aim to hold free and fair elections for the Iraqi Council of Representatives (Parliament) and provincial councils to ensure fair distribution of seats among the competing lists," according to the statement.
The latest amendments to the election law reduced the number of electoral districts from 83 countrywide in the previous 2021 elections to one electoral district for each of Iraq's 18 provinces.
The amendments also returned to the modified Sainte Lague system introduced in the 2014 elections, which depends on a complicated seat distribution formula and tends to favor established parties.
The amendments regarding the number of electoral districts and the seat distribution system angered many independent lawmakers and smaller parties, who walked out of the session because they saw the amendments as a means to strengthen the dominance and control of the larger parties over the political process.
The parliament also decided to hold provincial council elections no later than Dec. 20 this year. The last elections for the provincial councils took place in 2009 and were supposed to take place in 2013 but were halted over political disputes.
Get a daily dose of Iraq Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Iraq Sun.
More InformationBEIJING, China: China's national soccer team may struggle to stir excitement, but its humanoid robots are drawing cheers — and not...
]LONDON, U.K.: A World Health Organization (WHO) expert group investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic released its final...
DOVER, Delaware: California Governor Gavin Newsom has taken legal aim at Fox News, accusing the network of deliberately distorting...
FRANKFURT, Germany: Germany has become the latest country to challenge Chinese AI firm DeepSeek over its data practices, as pressure...
TORONTO, Canada: Harvard University and the University of Toronto have created a backup plan to ensure Harvard graduate students continue...
JERUSALEM, Israel: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel's success in the war with Iran could open the door to...
JERUSALEM, Israel: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel's success in the war with Iran could open the door to...
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip: Hisham al-Lahham is one of 580 premature babies in Gaza who may die from hunger, according to Gaza's Health...
DUBAI, U.A.E: Oman is set to introduce a personal income tax as part of its strategy to reduce dependency on hydrocarbon revenues....
Polands prime minister has announced the reinstatement of temporary checks on the borders with Germany and Lithuania Poland has decided...
SHARJAH, 1st July, 2025 (WAM) -- The Cardiac Centre at Al Qassimi Hospital, operated by Emirates Health Services (EHS), has become...
New Delhi [India], July 1 (ANI): The last two spots for the quarterfinals of the FIFA Club World Cup will be sealed by either Spanish...