There also seems to a series of "governorate councils", which will also be up for election tomorrow. It looks like there will be about 18 of these, and most of them will have 41 members. They seem to be more of a local branch of the government. It's not too clear to me what they will...
I thought I saw something to the effect that there will be two separate ballots-- one national, and one regional. In addition the Kurds were to have a third ballot, to vote for their own Kurdish national council. I didn't hear any details about that election.
I guess closed party list makes a lot of sense when the candidates themselves are practically anonymous for security reasons.
Bart ---- Election-methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
