Iraqi parliament approves new election law demanded by protesters
The new law will allow voters to elect individual lawmakers instead of choosing from party lists and creates new electoral districts, with one seat for each 100,000 voters.
The change to the electoral law was a key demand by thousands of protesters who have taken to the streets since early October, also demanding the removal of the entire ruling elite.
The protests forced Adel Abdel-Mahdi to resign as prime minister last month.
However, a constitutional deadline has been missed to pick a premier-designate amid wrangling among rival parliamentary blocs.
The protesters also demand the next prime minister be a political independent, and insist they won't accept any candidate backed by the political groups.
The protests are the largest in Iraq since December 2017, when Baghdad declared the liberation of all territory previously under the control of Islamic State extremists.
At least 485 people, mainly demonstrators, have since been killed in clashes, according to rights groups.
Iraqi governments have been formed along political and sectarian lines since the 2003 US-led invasion that deposed dictator Saddam Hussein.
Critics say the system contributes to corruption and incompetence in state institutions.
Iraq's current political stand-off has been described as the country's worst since Hussein's ouster.
