Iraq’s Parliament Close to Agreeing on Changes to New Electoral Law

An Iraqi man enters a voting booth at a polling station in the southern city of Basra during the May 2018 election. AFP file photo
An Iraqi man enters a voting booth at a polling station in the southern city of Basra during the May 2018 election. AFP file photo
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Iraq’s Parliament Close to Agreeing on Changes to New Electoral Law

An Iraqi man enters a voting booth at a polling station in the southern city of Basra during the May 2018 election. AFP file photo
An Iraqi man enters a voting booth at a polling station in the southern city of Basra during the May 2018 election. AFP file photo

Iraqi Speaker Mohammad al-Halbousi discussed this week with heads of parliamentary blocs the need to approve changes to the new electoral law and prepare the necessary conditions to hold the elections.

Halbousi met with heads of parliamentary blocs and the legal committee in the presence of First Deputy Hassan al-Kaabi to discuss the final version of the electoral law, which was approved by the legislature last year.

The meeting discussed the electoral districts, creating the necessary conditions for holding the polls, and the need for the government to provide full support to the Independent High Electoral Commission to enable it to hold free, and fair elections, a statement from Halbousi’s office said.

The Speaker also met Friday with head of the Sadrist Movement’s politburo Nassar Al-Rubaie.

They stressed the need to expedite the approval of the electoral law’s final text.

Late last year, Iraq's parliament approved the new electoral law, a key demand of protesters to have fair elections. However, an agreement should be finalized on setting the number and geographic map of electoral districts, before the law is sent to the President for approval.

“The electoral law has been approved by parliament. However, the issue of electoral districts has been postponed for discussion at a later stage,” said MP Yehya al-Muhammadi, head of the parliamentary legal committee.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that Article 15 of the law stipulates that a governorate should be divided into several electoral districts.

Muhammadi said that Halbousi discussed with heads of parliamentary blocs and the legal committee the steps that should be taken after the approval of the electoral law.

“They also discussed the ability of the government to hold the parliamentary elections, including the issue of limiting weapons to the state and the UN role in monitoring the polls,” he said.

Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi, who took office on May 7, has repeatedly said that holding legislative polls is his top priority.



EU to Boost Financial Support for Palestinian Authority 

A Palestinian walks in front of closed shops during a general strike condemning Israeli bombardment on Gaza, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 7, 2025. (Reuters)
A Palestinian walks in front of closed shops during a general strike condemning Israeli bombardment on Gaza, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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EU to Boost Financial Support for Palestinian Authority 

A Palestinian walks in front of closed shops during a general strike condemning Israeli bombardment on Gaza, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 7, 2025. (Reuters)
A Palestinian walks in front of closed shops during a general strike condemning Israeli bombardment on Gaza, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 7, 2025. (Reuters)

The European Union will increase its financial support for the Palestinian Authority with a three-year package worth around 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion), the European Commissioner responsible for the Middle East told Reuters in an interview.

Dubravka Suica, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, said the financial support would go hand in hand with reforms of the Palestinian Authority, which has been accused by critics of corruption and bad governance.

"We want them to reform themselves because without reforming, they won't be strong enough and credible in order to be an interlocutor, not for only for us, but an interlocutor also for Israel," Suica said.

The commissioner's remarks came ahead of a first "high-level political dialogue" between European Union foreign ministers and senior Palestinian officials including Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Luxembourg on Monday.

The EU is the biggest donor to the Palestinians and EU officials hope the Palestinian Authority, which runs the West Bank, may also one day take responsibility for Gaza after the war between Israel and Hamas comes to an end.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, however, has so far rejected the idea of handing over Gaza to the PA and shunned the EU's broader aim of a two-state solution, which would include the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Suica said 620 million euros would go to financial support and reform of the PA, 576 million euros to "resilience and recovery" of the West Bank and Gaza and 400 million euros would come in loans from the European Investment Bank, subject to the approval of its governing body.

She said average EU support for the PA had amounted to about 400 million euros over the past 12 years.

"We are investing now in a credible manner in the Palestinian Authority," Suica said.