The presidency of the Iraqi Council of Representatives and political bloc leaders agreed that the new Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) should have nine members as it was the case before, said a Kurdish MP.

The current commission's term has been extended more than three times as the political blocs could not agree on the amendments to commission's law and the number of its members. Some blocs demanded the number be increased from nine to 15.

Kurdish MP Saed Rasul Khoshnaw said the presidency of the Council, political faction leaders and committee chairmen in the Council agreed on leavening the number of commission seats as it is.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law Coalition (SLC) recently insisted on increasing the seats to 15 but today the coalition stepped back from its request.

A Kurdish official in Baghdad said increasing the number of seats in IHEC strengthens the SLC's state against the Kurdish position in the commission.

In an earlier account to AKnews, the politician who demanded anonymity said the Kurdish MPs' concern over increasing the members of the commission sources from many issues, "most notably the rise in power of the Kurds' rival, SLC."

The official explained now Kurds have two seats out of nine in the commission, equal to 23% of the total shares in the commission. If the number of seats is increased to 15, then Kurds' share becomes three seats, or only 19% and in which case Kurdish authority in the commission would reduce.













AKnews