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Iraqi Political Will Lacking For New Electoral Law

Most observers consider it unlikely that Iraq will consider revising its electoral law ahead of the 2014 elections.
Members of the new Iraqi Parliament attend a session at the Parliament headquarters in Baghdad, November 11, 2010. Iraq's fractious politicians have agreed to return Shi'ite Nuri al-Maliki as prime minister, ending an eight-month deadlock that raised fears of renewed sectarian war, but leaving some Sunnis sceptical he can forge national unity. The pact on top government posts brings together Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds in a power-sharing arrangement similar to the last Iraqi government and could help prevent
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Every election season in Iraq triggers discussions of a new election law and electoral mechanisms. Questions abound as to which parties would stand to benefit or lose from such an election law or mechanism.

The Iraqi media have recently highlighted the intention of political parties to re-adopt the "closed list" system and consider Iraq as "one constituency," a system that was adopted in the 2005 elections. However, the system was abandoned in the 2010 elections in favor of the "semi-open list" system, which divides Iraq into 18 "constituencies" that represent Iraq's provinces.

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