Iraq's parliament has unanimously approved a new electoral law, paving the way for elections early next year.

伊拉克议会议员全体一致通过一项新竞选法，为明年早些时候的选举铺平了道路。

Vice-President Hashemi (L) withdrew his veto after the vote 
 

Parliamentarians议会法规专家 were called to vote in a special late-night session to try to end a political crisis, and they voted minutes before the midnight deadline.

The deputy speaker副议长 of parliament said an election should take place on 27 February, but it was unclear if this would be possible.

The new law is said to have been brokered¹作为中间人来安排 by the UN and the US embassy.

Polls originally scheduled for 16 January were delayed due to problems with the election law.

"This is wonderful and a huge achievement for Iraq," said deputy speaker Khalid al-Attiya.

"Now the way is paved to conduct the election at a date to be determined² by the presidency³ council."

Last week, the United Nations said a new feasible可行的，可能的 election date was 27 February 2010.

Expanded parliament

Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi had vetoed the previous version of the law, saying it did not provide enough seats for the country's Sunni minority.

Following the parliamentary vote, he formally withdrew his veto否决权 of the election law and praised the new amendment修正案 as providing a fairer deal for Iraq's minorities.

About 4 million Sunnis fled the country to escape violence that erupted爆发 after the US-led invasion.

"I would like to congratulate the Iraqi people for this historical victory," Mr Hashimi said.

The compromises reached by politicians had "got Iraq out from the bottleneck瓶颈 and out of a problem", he said.

Debate over the electoral law had also centred around the northern, oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which is disputed between Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen.

The new parliament will be expanded from the current 275 seats to 325, said Mr Attiya.

The election is seen as a prerequisite先决条件 to the US meeting its goal of pulling out combat troops by August next year, and withdrawing fully⁷ by 2012.