Iraq's Presidential Council again postponed the parliamentary elections, but this time by just one day, setting March 7 as the revised date for the long-awaited vote.
After consulting with Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission Tuesday, the three-member Council had announced that elections to the parliament would be held on March 6, saying it decided to delay the voting further considering a series of religious holidays that could interfere with the planning.
Iraq's official al-Iraqia Television quoted Presidential Chief of Staff Nasser al-Aini as saying that the Presidential Council revised the date after a second meeting in the afternoon.
A presidential decree to formalize the amended election law will be issued Wednesday, he added.
Kurds had reportedly objected to the March 6 schedule since it would coincide with the anniversary of a peace treaty between Iraq and Iran that Kurdish politicians said led to violations of Iraqi Kurds' rights.
Iraq's Election Commission halted all preparations for general elections originally scheduled for January 16 after Tariq al-Hashemi, one of the country's two Vice-Presidents, proposed an amendment to the crucial election law.
Iraqi lawmakers averted a last-minute constitutional crisis Sunday night after they approved a new version of a stalled law for holding parliament elections.
A failure to pass new election laws would have forced Iraq to revert to the laws used in its last parliament election in 2005, and throwing the political process into turmoil.
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