Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says the call for the early vote is in response to the people's demands for change.

He told a news conference on Monday that he would ask the parliament to pass a law allowing for the early municipal elections.

Elections for control of Iraq's 18 provinces are held every four years. The last ones were held in 2009 and any move to hold them earlier would require a parliament vote.
Himself newly elected, al-Maliki is under intense pressure to show he's addressing the demands of a population angry with a lack of government services, a scarcity of jobs and rampant corruption.