Iraq's Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi has vetoed part of an election law over its failure to allocate any seats to Iraqis living abroad, Press TV reported.
Al-Hashemi said he objected to Article One of the law approved by the parliament earlier this month because it did not give a voice to Iraqis living outside the country.
He had given the parliament until Tuesday noon to amend the election bill and ensure greater representation for the mostly Sunni expatriates living in Jordan and Syria, throwing the January vote into question.
Many of the Iraqis are Sunni Muslims displaced by terrorist attacks and fighting in the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
In a letter to parliament on Monday, al-Hashimi said the election bill ratified a week ago did not take into consideration the estimated two million Sunnis who fled the sectarian violence.
Any delay in the voting could derail a US plan to withdraw combat troops from Iraq, a process scheduled to ramp up following the election.
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