BAGHDAD, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi parliament approved on Saturday most of the country's electoral districts amid disputes among the parliamentary political blocs.

A statement by the parliament's media office said the parliament voted by a majority of 176 lawmakers, who attended the parliament's session, on the electoral districts in 16 out of Iraq's 18 provinces, "while the voting on the remaining provinces of Nineveh and Kirkuk was postponed to next Monday's session."

Ahmed al-Jubouri, a lawmaker from the northern province of Nineveh, told Xinhua that "the reason for postponing voting ... is due to the deep differences among representatives of the two provinces."

Al-Jubouri believes that the differences among the lawmakers will be resolved before the coming session on Monday.

Earlier this month, the parliament decided to set 83 electoral districts in the country, based on the women's 25 percent quota in the 329-seat parliament, so the number of districts is equal to that of women in the Iraqi parliament.

Late last year, the parliament passed most of the elections draft, but differences remained on the number of electoral districts due to political row among the political blocs.

The new electoral law came in response to the anti-government protests and was designed to make it easier for independent politicians to win a seat in the upcoming parliament.

On July 31, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi set June 6, 2021 as date for the early elections. Enditem

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