Lawmakers put vacation on hold

The Iraqi parliament voted Tuesday in Baghdad to postpone its summer recess for 30 days in a bid to finalize legislation needed to hold provincial elections in the fall.
U.S. and Iraqi officials hope the poll scheduled for Oct. 1 will settle local power disputes that threaten to undermine security gains since last summer. But parliament is divided over the procedures to be followed.
Iraqi lawmakers have been criticized by U.S. officials in the past for taking long summer vacations while key legislation was still pending.
The decision to delay the recess came as Sunni Arab lawmakers said they were nearing an agreement with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that would bring them back into Cabinet. Their return to a government dominated by Shiite Muslims and ethnic Kurds is considered a key part of reconciliation efforts.
Legislators had been scheduled to go on holiday Tuesday, but agreed to continue meeting until July 30 to try to resolve their differences over the elections, said Jaber Habeeb, a member of the governing Shiite alliance.

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