Cabinet sets Jan 31 to hold provincial councils elections

Iraq-Cabinet BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi government on Tuesday decided to hold the provincial councils elections on January 31, the official spokesman for the Iraqi government Ali al-Dabagh said. “The Iraqi cabinet decided in its 46th session to set January 31, 2009 as a date to hold the provincial councils elections,” Ali al-Dabagh said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com. The number of the provincial councils’ seats is 440, which is being distributed on 14 provinces which will witness the elections out of 18 Iraqi provinces as elections in Kirkuk will be postponed to another date to be determined by the parliament. Similar elections will not be held in Kurdistan region under this law. The law on provincial council elections, which is seen as supplementary to the law on regions and non-regional provinces, which was approved by the Parliament in February, sparked heated controversy among political blocs. The law specifies the system of government in Iraq, and if applied, a federal system may be established in the country with three separate regions, a call echoed by some Iraqi political parties. SH (S)/SR 1