The US has planned on a rapid withdrawl of troops from Iraqi after the Iraqi elections in January. The Sunni vice president has vetoed part of the election law. That veto has thrown the scheduled elections into jeopardy. The VP is well aware that once US troops leave Iraq, it will be open season time on the remaining Sunnis.
But Qassim al-Aboudi, a member of the electoral commission, told reporters the commission had suspended all of its activities tied to the vote's preparations.
"The situation is very difficult, and it it clear now that this will affect the commission's procedures and for sure will push the elections back," al-Aboudi said.
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Lawmakers haggled for weeks over the election legislation before finally passing it on Nov. 8, much to the relief of Iraqi political leaders and the United States, which pushed hard for a deal.
Little more than a week later, the hard-fought agreement appears to be crumbling. Iraq's Kurds have also demanded changes to the law to ensure more seats for Kurdish regions in parliament, and on Tuesday threatened to boycott the elections unless their demands were met.
That ultimatum, coupled with al-Hashemi's move on Wednesday, could undermine Iraq's fledgling democracy and delay Washington's plans to withdraw all combat troops by the end of August. U.S. commanders have tied the move to the national vote.
U.S. military officials have said they will begin to draw down forces about 60 days after the election, hoping for assurances by then that Iraq is on stable footing.
Under a plan by President Barack Obama, all U.S. combat personnel must be out of Iraq by the end of August 2010. The rest of the troops, such as trainers and support personnel, must leave by the end of 2011.
Iraqi Elections May Be Delayed
