Iraq’s New Election Law Draws Much Criticism and Few Cheers

Legislators defended the new law, insisting that they were doing the will of the protesters.

“The political blocs listened to the demands of the demonstrators and carried out a peaceful coup upon themselves by passing the election law,” said Wajih Abbas, a lawmaker from Sadiqoon, the party led by Qais al-Khazali, who is viewed as close to Iran.

The populist political and religious leader Muqtada al-Sadr, whose political bloc is one of Iraq’s largest, tweeted support for the law, describing it as a “first step on the path of reforms.”

Tens of thousands of his followers have been in the streets for months, pushing for many of the changes the new law purports to include. But already, doubts have emerged over how the law would be put into practice.

Abbas Kadhim, the director of the Iraq Initiative and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said the measure has created something “similar to a congressional system, but Iraq’s system is parliamentary.”

“It is like having a Volkswagen bug and deciding it needs a new engine and you get the best — an engine for a Ferrari — but the two don’t work together,” said Mr. Kadhim, a longtime observer of the Iraqi political system.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/24/world/middleeast/iraq-election-law.html?emc=rss&partner=rss