Iraq’s parliament on Monday passed an amended election law required for the national elections currently scheduled for late January. Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi vetoed the first legislative iteration last week because it did not allocate at least 15 percent of parliamentary seats to minorities, refugees, and internally displaced Iraqis. The iteration passed Monday, however, does not increase representation for those groups to 15 percent, and some Iraqi lawmakers believe Vice President al-Hashemi will veto the law again. Iraqi nationalism has overcome several sectarian disputes but the difficulty with the election law highlights the importance of several remaining issues, especially in negotiating finer details. If the law is again vetoed and stalls in parliament, it could delay the election itself, as well as the planned withdrawal of the nearly 100,000 U.S. combat soldiers by January 2011. Also on Monday, Iraq’s parliament passed a law easing foreign investment restrictions. The law does not apply to either the oil sector or hotel construction, but Iraq’s housing sector could prove a profitable market. Several Gulf development firms have expressed interest in Iraqi real estate, which has suffered underdevelopment from nearly two decades of international sanctions and war. The law must be approved by Iraq’s presidential council. Iraq has found difficulty attracting foreign investment, partly due to security and instability but also corruption, poor infrastructure such as roads, and competition from state central planning. An auction for developing Iraq’s oil fields in June proved disappointing. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is campaigning for reelection on a nationalist platform, is seeking far better results from another auction scheduled for December.
At least 21 people were killed in election-related violence in the Philippines, and according to a spokesman for the armed forces, the death toll is expected to rise. A group of politicians and journalists was abducted on the island on Mindanao early on Monday while on its way to file nomination papers for a local mayor, Ismael Mangudadatu, for next year’s elections. Though Mangudadatu was not part of the group, his wife, lawyers, aides, and journalists were among the attacked. As of this writing, armed forces spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner confirmed that 21 people, including 13 women and 8 men, were found dead, some of them mutilated. He said he believed more bodies had been buried, and that his forces were trying to locate them. “This is not the first time that we are experiencing this kind of violence related to politics or related to the elections that we’re going to have next year,” he said in an interview. “However, this is one of the bloodiest that we have experienced so far.” The violence was widely condemned by politicians and media groups alike. Jesus Dureza, adviser to President Gloria Arroyo in the volatile Mindanao region, said it was “a gruesome massacre of civilians unequalled in recent history,” while Reporters without Borders condemned it as “an incomprehensible bloodbath.” “Never in the history of journalism have the news media suffered such a heavy loss of life in one day,” the group said in a statement. Officials have not yet confirmed who carried out the killings, but the Mangudadatu clan is known to have a long-running feud with the province’s incumbent governor Andal Ampatuan, who police say controls his own private army.
Business leaders and investors from around the world are praising the East African Community (EAC) after its leaders signed a pact last week to create a common market. “That initiative has made the region stronger, through bringing about significant economic reforms, liberalized markets, and diversified trade,” East African Business Council Chairman Faustin Mbundu said on Monday. “EAC partner states should be committed to the spirit of the customs union protocol.” Following 18 months of negotiations, the presidents of the member states of the EAC—Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda—gathered in Tanzania on Friday to sign the East Africa common market protocol, a treaty that will allow the free movement of people and goods across the region. The landmark deal, which will come into effect in 2010, is the first common market in Africa. It is hoped to bring greater economic clout to the EAC, which was launched 10 years ago and has a combined population of over 125 million and a collective GDP of $60 billion. Though some fear that Kenya, the relative economic heavyweight, will dominate the other economies once its goods are no longer subject to taxes, for the most part the deal was heralded as a huge achievement. Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete called it a “great step,” telling reporters after the signing that “we have come along way in establishing East African Community…. We are going to move to other stages after this historic event.” The bloc is working to build a monetary union by 2012 and ultimately hopes to create a political federation.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Washington, D.C., on Monday, commencing a four-day visit aimed at improving ties with the United States. His agenda includes addresses to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the U.S.-India Business Council, Council on Foreign Relations, and Woodrow Wilson International Center on Monday, and President Barack Obama will officially welcome him with a state dinner on Tuesday night. The Indo-U.S. relationship, which largely flourished under the administration of President George W. Bush, faces a crossroads of sorts under Obama, as the world’s most populous and most powerful democracies consider how to confront the mutual concerns on terrorism, climate change, and nuclear cooperation. Ahead of his arrival, Singh called on Obama to stay in Afghanistan and to continue to pressure Pakistan to reign in Islamic extremism. “We have been the victims of Pakistan-aided, abetted and inspired terrorism for nearly 25 years. We would like the United States to use all its influence with Pakistan to desist from that path,” Singh told The Washington Post and Newsweek in a joint interview. “Pakistan has nothing to fear from India. It’s a tragedy that Pakistan has come to the point of using terror as an instrument of state policy,” he continued. He also said that he hoped Obama would end India’s pariah status on civilian nuclear energy markets, an accord championed by President Bush during his tenure. Singh will also discuss defense and strategic cooperation in meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates before departing Washington on Thursday.