New electoral law raises controversy in Iraq
Some Iraqi political parties are complaining that the new elections law passed by the parliament is unfair and unworkable without a census; protesters — who essentially caused legislators to pass the law — also are dissatisfied.
BAGHDAD — Iraq's new elections law, passed by parliament in response to the ongoing protests that began in October, has raised major controversy among various political groups.
The new law gives voters the freedom to choose individual candidates rather than political parties and lists.
It also organizes the elections in single-winner districts that consist of 100,000 people. This means the candidates cannot compete as part of a national or provincial list under a proportional representation system but instead must run in a specific district; each electoral constituency is to have one deputy in parliament. Consequently, some of the large political blocs that have managed to come to power through list-based voting and large constituencies in Iraqi provinces could disintegrate.
Previous elections in Iraq have taken place in a semi-closed list system, with each province considered an electoral constituency, and the Sainte-Lague method was used to allocate seats to various parties in a proportional representation system.
