EXCLUSIVE: Iraqi Parliament has no official proposals to amend Election Law

Shafaq News

09-02-2025

Shafaq News/ On Sunday, the Iraqi Parliament's Legal Committee confirmed that it has not received any official proposals or drafts to amend the Election Law from any political or parliamentary entity.
MP Omid Muhammad told Shafaq News Agency, "The committee has not been presented with any draft or proposal to amend the Election Law, either from the government, parties, political blocs, or members of parliament."
"The current law applies the Sainte-Laguë 1.7 electoral system, where each province is treated as a single electoral district, as was the case in the provincial council elections," he explained.
The MP further acknowledged several ideas and proposals from political parties and blocs to amend the law, but noted that they have not been officially submitted. 'Any amendment to the law must occur during the current legislative season to allow the Independent High Electoral Commission sufficient time to prepare for the parliamentary elections.'
Notably, Iraq is set to hold parliamentary elections by October 2025, amid ongoing debate over the law governing the elections.
Amending the country's Election Law, a key demand of the State of Law Coalition (SLC) led by led by Nouri al-Maliki, currently faces considerable obstacles as divisions between major political blocs intensify. While larger parties seek to consolidate their influence, independent and smaller factions continue to push for greater representation and accountability.
Evolution of Iraq's Electoral Laws
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Iraq has undergone significant changes in its electoral framework, enacting six election laws to address the country's evolving political landscape. Initially, during the transitional phase, Iraq operated as a single electoral district with a closed-list system.
In 2005, Election Law No. 16 introduced a new system based on electoral quotient calculations, dividing the country into 18 electoral districts aligned with its provinces. This system remained in place until 2010, when partial open-list voting was introduced.
Further reforms came in 2014 with the adoption of the Sainte-Laguë method, using a 1.7 divisor formula, which was later adjusted to 1.9 in 2018. This method, introduced in 1912 by French mathematician André Sainte-Laguë, distributes votes across electoral seats in multi-member districts, seeking to minimize discrepancies between votes and seat allocation.
The October 2019 protests, driven by widespread public dissatisfaction with corruption and political stagnation, led to another major shift in 2020. The new law replaced proportional representation with a majoritarian system, dividing each province into multiple electoral districts. This change allowed independent candidates to secure 70 out of 329 parliamentary seats in the 2021 elections, while traditional parties struggled to achieve a majority.
On March 27, 2023, the Iraqi parliament approved an amendment to the parliamentary elections law, reverting to the pre-2019 system. This decision has drawn sharp criticism from independent and smaller political parties, who argue that it favors larger political blocs and undermines the progress made since the protests.