… at least, for now. Iraq's Parliament arrived at a resolution to put off the resolution of the Kirkuk issue until later so the rest of the country can vote on time. (On time now meaning before January 31, 2009 – the squabbling over jurisdiction of Kirkuk will need to be resolved by March 2009). The US is calling this a victory because now provincial elections can take place; presumably, Sunnis will not boycott this election, as they did in 2005, and power will be appropriately reapportioned across sectarian groups in a fashion that bolsters government legitimacy. This resolution still needs approval from the Presidential Council, of which Jalal Talabani, Iraq's Kurdish President, makes up one-third.
I think it's indicative of the general low expectations participants in these negotiations have for resolution that they are calling this a success. Failure to resolve a central issue, and subsequent resort to a band-aid solution, doesn't really bode well for future resolution of this dispute through compromise; at this point it appears more of a battle of wills between Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen. I guess we will have to wait until March 2009 (plus inevitable postponements) to see the result.
The law also includes a quota for women: 25% of elected representatives are to be female.
