Al-Hashimi vetoes Iraqi election law

Al-Hashimi met today (عربي) with Faraj al-Haidari, the head of Iraq's electoral commission, to discuss his proposed amendment.

"The parliament can approve these changes in a day," Al-Hashimi said.

But it might not be so easy: Kurdish political leaders threatened a boycott today over the election law's allocation of seats to Kurdistan. Masoud Barzani, the Kurdish regional president, is upset that only 3 of the 48 new parliamentary seats created by the election law were allocated to Kurdish parties.

"Unless this seat allocation formula is reconsidered in a just manner, the people of [the] Kurdistan region will be compelled to boycott the election," a statement posted on Barzani's Website said on Tuesday.

Kurdish opposition means parliament might once again become deadlocked over the election law -- which would almost certainly delay the election scheduled for January 21.

One thing I've been wondering about Al-Hashimi's proposed amendment: Why now? His concerns are legitimate, but sending this law back to parliament jeopardizes the election -- and if it's delayed, all the blame will fall on Al-Hashimi. Why take that risk?

Update: The electoral commission has officially suspended its preparations (عربي) for the January election, according to Al-Jazeera, which further increases the likelihood of a delay.

Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki weighed in on the veto, saying it came as a surprise. Rough translation:

"[I am] surprised by the announcement of the veto, which constitutes a serious threat to the political process and democracy. It was not based on the constitution, and it did not take into account the overall national interest."

Al-Jazeera talked with al-Hashimi, who repeated his claim that parliament can implement his proposed amendment "in just one meeting."