Iraq approves provincial election law after Cheney visit
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq's three-member presidency council on Wednesday approved a draft law to hold provincial elections, after lifting objections which it had raised last month, the council said.
"The presidency council has withdrawn its objections to the provincial elections law," it said in a statement, without explaining the apparent change of heart.
Washington sees the law as a cornerstone to promoting Iraqi national reconciliation.
It is expected to boost the powers of Iraq's 18 provinces to launch their own economic projects with funds allocated by the central government.
The presidency council said the approved draft would be returned to the justice ministry and then published in newspapers across Iraq.
The breakthrough came a day after US Vice President Dick Cheney left Iraq following a surprise visit during which he was reported to have pressed the council to approve the law.
It was approved in parliament last month and submitted to the presidency as part of a package of legislation seen as crucial to reconciliation efforts but which had been held up for months amid sectarian feuding between MPs.
The presidency had objected to the provincial elections law on the grounds that some aspects of the legislation were in contradiction with the Iraqi constitution.
