At Last, Iraqi Lawmakers Agree on the 2010 Election Law

Article

At Last, Iraqi Lawmakers Agree on the 2010 Election Law

On December 6, 2009, the Iraqi parliament finally passed an election law for the 2010 elections. The law deals with the most controversial issues regarding the election.

Published on Dec 14, 2009

On Sunday, December 6, 2009, the Iraqi parliament finally passed an election law for the 2010 elections. The Presidency Council swiftly approved the measure, the result of sensitive negotiations among Iraq’s top legislators.

The most controversial issues were the distribution of parliamentary seats among provinces, and the number and distribution of minority and compensatory seats, which are apportioned to parties too small to win election in any single province, but that win a large enough share of the national vote to earn a seat in parliament.

The 325-seat parliament will consist of 310 seats for the provinces, eight seats for minority groups, and seven compensatory seats.
Provincial seats will be distributed on the basis of the 2005 Ministry of Trade’s population numbers (based on food ration cards), with 2.8% population growth added for all provinces.
Iraqis living abroad will vote for representatives of their home provinces, with no special status attributed to them.
Minority seats will be distributed as follows: five Christian seats will be contested within a single national district reserved for Christians. In addition, Yazidis will have one reserved seat in Nineveh, Saibis one in Baghdad, and Shabakis one in Nineveh.
The seven remaining compensatory seats will be distributed among parties that fare well on the national level but do not gain any seats on the provincial level

Province	2005 Elections	2010 Elections
Baghdad	59	68
Nineveh	19	31
Basra	16	24
Dhi Qar	12	18
Babil	11	16
Sulaymaniya	15	17
Anbar	9	14
Irbil	13	14
Diyala	10	13
Kirkuk	9	12
Salahaddin	8	12
Najaf	8	12
Wasit	8	11
Qadisiyah	8	11
Maysan	7	10
Dohuk	7	10
Karbala	6	10
Muthanna	5	7
Compensatory Seats	45	15
Total	275	325

Iraq Political Reform Democracy

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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Province

2005 Elections

2010 Elections

Baghdad

Nineveh

Basra

Dhi Qar

Babil

Sulaymaniya

Anbar

Irbil

Diyala

Kirkuk

Salahaddin

Najaf

Wasit

Qadisiyah

Maysan

Dohuk

Karbala

Muthanna

Compensatory Seats

Total

275

325

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