Iraq's parliament met on Saturday to vote on a new electoral law for polls early next year but no quorum was reached and the session was postponed until Sunday, speaker Iyad Samarrai said. "There are only 113 members present, and therefore no quorum. A new session will take place tomorrow at 11 am (0800 GMT)," he told MPs.
There are 275 seats in the Iraqi legislature, and at least 138 members must be present for a session to go ahead. President Jalal Talabani had called Saturday's session to vote on a draft law to govern legislative elections, urging MPs to quickly pass the law, without which the general election can not proceed.
The United Nations on Wednesday proposed February 27 as the most "feasible" date for parliamentary elections, nearly a month later than the deadline set by the constitution. In principle, the constitution requires that the poll be held by the end of January.
No definitive election date has yet been set. The election originally scheduled for January 16 has been delayed because of a failure by members of parliament to agree on the new law.
Last week, MPs passed an amended version and the law is currently before the three-member presidential council, composed of Talabani, a Kurd, Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi and Shiite Vice President Adel Abdel Mehdi. Only one needs to veto the bill for it to be sent back to parliament again. Hashemi last month vetoed a draft election law that MPs had agreed and has threatened to do so again with a new text.