AP Photo

They came so close. The new Iraqi electoral law was within hours of being ratified, but at the 11th hour Tariq al Hashemi, the Sunni representative on the country's presidency council, vetoed it. This means that the work must start over, which must be incredibly frustrating to Iraqi MPs who, in a rare demonstration of selflessness, set aside sectarian interests to do something for the good of the entire nation. Mr al Hashemi will be answering some rather tough questions over the next few days, but the damage has been done and Iraq's parliament must salvage what it can from this debacle to avoid a constitutional crisis.

Mr al Hashemi has claimed that his veto was in defence of the constitution, but that is seriously in doubt. Even his right to a veto is dubious as the...