Under the pressure of the popular protests that erupted in Iraq last October - which was led by the demand to change the country's election law - Parliament passed part of a new election law late last year, but divergent differences between the political blocs prevented its completion.

The new election law in Iraq consists of 50 articles, and the dispute revolves around Article 15 of it, which states that "electoral districts are divided on the basis of one electoral district for each district in the governorate."

Riyadh Al-Masoudi, a deputy for the "Sairoun" coalition led by Muqtada Al-Sadr, says that the parliament voted on the new electoral law as a whole, noting that Article 15 of the law concerns multiple constituencies and individual lists, and these details are decided by the Election Commission and the Presidency of Parliament, in addition to the Ministry of Planning.

Al-Masoudi confirms in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the final approval of the new electoral law takes "a quarter of an hour" only, provided that the political blocs agree on the multiple districts.

He indicated that Al-Sadr's coalition would strongly defend the law, as well as use what is known as the "biometric system" (the process of electronically registering and collecting voter data), and conducting elections abroad in Iraq.

Al-Tamimi said that the lack of completion of the Federal Court members constitutes another obstacle to holding the elections (Al-Jazeera)

Federal Court

On August 1, the Independent High Electoral Commission confirmed its readiness to hold early elections on the date set by Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi on June 6, with 4 conditions, namely the completion of the election law, the completion of the quorum of the Federal Court, the preparation of the electoral budget and the provision of international oversight. .

Although the political forces have not decided the final version of the new law, legal expert Ali Al-Tamimi believes that the Federal Court case constitutes another obstacle to holding the elections.

The Federal Supreme Court cannot hold its sessions after referring one of its members to retirement for health reasons, and over the course of 4 consecutive parliamentary sessions, the blocs failed to pass the Federal Court bill for reasons related to the disputes based on the mechanism for nominating members of the court and the method of voting.

Al-Tamimi told Al-Jazeera Net that it is not possible to certify any electoral results as long as the Federal Court is not fully formed, explaining that Article 5 of its law requires that court sessions be held in the presence of the entire court, and on the contrary its decisions are incorrect.

Returning to the new law, the legal expert points out that multiple constituencies are the best for various reasons, including: good choice and transparency, eliminating the dominance of large political blocs, in addition to the ease of elections and ensuring broad participation, but political forces see otherwise.

Al-Ani doubts the possibility of ending the quota system according to the new electoral law (Al-Jazeera)

The old law

For his part, Dhafer Al-Ani, deputy head of the Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, doubts the possibility of ending the quota system according to the new electoral law, explaining that the multiple districts were floating without specification, and there is no agreed-upon criterion for the position of the constituency, is it the judiciary with its geographical borders, or 100 thousand people for each seat .

He pointed out that the political blocs vary in seeing which of the two criteria is the most assured of victory.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Ani believes that the insistence of some blocs on the multiple districts comes because they believe that it will enable them to win more seats, pointing out that the law will be put to a vote next month in the first session of Parliament after the legislative recess.

In turn, Intisar al-Jubouri, a representative of the Forces Union headed by Muhammad al-Halbousi, says, "The law will not end the quota system, but on the contrary it will consecrate it. Instead of the representative representing and working for the whole governorate, he will represent and work according to the new electoral law for one region, in addition to that the deputy will lose his audience in areas that do not." Intervene within the judiciary in which he will be nominated for membership in Parliament. "

In her interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Jubouri pointed to many problems in resolving the distribution of districts, especially in the disputed areas, and the problem of the instability and dispersion of the Sunni public in the displacement stations inside and outside the country, in addition to the fact that the Federal Court is not yet fully formed, and it is concerned with ratifying the results.

She emphasized that there is a tendency to amend the new electoral law, or to return to the old law, due to the lack of time and the lack of agreement between the political blocs.

Al-Gharabi confirmed that the early elections with a fair law and a new commission highlighted the demands of the demonstrators (Al-Jazeera)

Threat of escalation

In Dhi Qar, southern Iraq - which witnessed violent clashes and a large number of victims in the first wave of protests, and which is still witnessing a tense atmosphere - human rights activist Hussain Al-Gharabi works with a group of activists in the demonstrations to organize a political gathering in the province with activists from Basra and Najaf, to enter a political party New and running for the upcoming elections.

Al-Gharabi says that the protesters ’most prominent demand is early elections with a fair law and a new commission, noting that“ Parliament approved the new electoral law with deception due to public pressure, and kept the seat distribution mechanism suspended, which is the most important. ”

Al-Gharabi added to Al-Jazeera Net that "the popular will towards multiple constituencies and individual candidacy, but the political blocs were stalling to reach the election moment, putting the masses in front of the fait accompli to return to the previous law, and then the street will have a big role, and the demonstrations may come back in force."