Parliament on Thursday passed a draft election law with 85 percent of MPs voting in favor of it. The new law takes effect immediately, replacing the previous election law. It took Parliament nearly a year to pass the law, due to disagreements between the DP and MPP caucuses. But the caucuses decided to hold next year’s parliamentary election under a new law and eventually compromised.

The new law means 48 MPs will be elected from electoral districts, while 28 will be elected at large, based on a party’s proportion of the vote.

Speaker D.Demberel said it took Parliament much effort to pass the law. He acknowledged the working groups and standing committees that worked on it. He said the Election General Committee was also helpful, and he emphasized the need to educate the public about the new law.