BAGHDAD — There is no doubt that early elections were the main demand of the protests that broke out in Iraq in October; this demand also was supported by the Shiite religious authority. This prompted the government of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to resign three months ago. And Prime-Minister-designate Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi has vowed to hold early elections.

But how would these elections take place? What are the constitutional mechanisms and necessary legal frameworks for such a vote? What are the main political and other obstacles that might hinder the holding of such elections before the expiry of the current parliamentary term in mid-2022?

As per the Iraqi constitution, parliament must be dissolved for early elections to take place. This could be done in one of two ways. According to Article 64, parliament can decide to dissolve itself by two-thirds of its 329 members. This, however, remains far-fetched in the current scenario, since some Kurdish and Sunni blocs refuse to hold early elections under electoral legislation passed in December whereby the number of electoral constituencies was increased. However, this legislation has yet to be sent to the president for ratification, and some blocs now want to amend the proposed law, which would further delay things.

The second option for dissolving the parliament as per the constitution would be at the request of the prime minister with the approval of the president, who would call for fresh general elections in the country within a maximum period of 60 days from the date of the parliament's dissolution.