The parliament must be decisive in its decisions, and... not bow to pressure," said Jibouri. "We hope tomorrow you see a strong parliament that can take and make decisions, and be brave in its decisions."

Those concessions seemed to hold little swing machines sway with Kurdish politicians, some of whom threatened to not even attend the vote if the 2004 option is on the table. Lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said Kurdish legislators warned the parliament speaker not to put the issue up for a vote.

If the proposal based on the 2004 list passes, Othman said Iraqi President Jalal Talabani - who's Kurdish - will veto it, a sign of the heavy pressure Talabani is under to align himself with his Kurdish brethren.

At least 138 of Iraq's 275 lawmakers freshwater pearl jewelry must attend in order for the vote to go forward. A simple majority would pass the matter but it can then be vetoed by the president.

Lawmakers would need 183 votes to override his veto, something that Othman said could trigger an even bigger fallout.

"If the law is passed, then we will boycott the entire elections," Othman said.

The Kurds were granted international permission to rule Iraq's three northern provinces independently from Baghdad after the 1991 Gulf war. Since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the Kurds have become a key group in the cultured pearl jewelry Baghdad-based central government.

It has been during periods of political deadlock like these that Iraq becomes particularly vulnerable to renewed violence. In 2006, months of political wrangling over the country's first permanent post-invasion government allowed Al Qaeda-linked insurgent groups to provoke Shiite militias into a near-civil war that tore the country apart.