Speaker of the Iraqi parliament Mahmoud al- Mashhadani announced Wednesday an end to the regular session of parliament but announced a special extraordinary session for Sunday amid the ongoing dispute over a controversial election law, according to dpa. Al-Mashhadani's announcement came in a press conference held in Baghdad, at which he urged all lawmakers to attend the Sunday session, which he described as "important." Last week Kurdish lawmakers walked out of the parliament session in protest against the law, which foresees secret ballot voting in order to decide a power-sharing arrangement in the multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk. The Iraqi legislature approved the law despite the walkout by the Kurdish lawmakers, who for their part have vowed to have the law rewritten. They also denounced the measure as "unconstitutional." Meanwhile, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd himself, has rejected the law in a presidential statement. Amid the controversy over the law, hundreds of Kurds staged protest rallies Wednesday in various locations around in the northern province of Sulaymanyah. The last two days witnessed similar protests in the northern provinces of Arbil and Kirkuk. During these Kurdish protests 22 people were killed and another 150 were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up amongst the protestors.
