One day after Iraqi politicians passed a controversial election law, five powerful bombs rocked Baghdad killing more than 100 civilians.

Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, condemned the attacks and said Baathists and al-Qaeda were the perpetrators. He also fired the head of Baghdad's security force.

Iraqi parliament in turn questioned the al-Maliki and his defence and interior ministers in a special session.

Al-Maliki also predicted more attacks in the coming weeks by "those who want to prevent the general election from taking place", now scheduled for March 7.

So who is behind the attacks and will they succeed in deterring a large segment of Iraqis from voting?

To discuss this Jasim Azawi is joined by Saleh al-Mutlaq, the secretary-general of the Iraqi National Movement, Mohammad Ihsan, the Kurdistan Regional Government minister for extra-regional affairs, and Wamidh Nadhmi, a professor of political science at Baghdad University.

This episode of Inside Iraq aired from Friday, December 11, 2009.