BAGHDAD, July 22 (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament passed a provincial elections bill on Tuesday despite a walkout by Kurdish parliamentarians angered over how the law would deal with the disputed city of Kirkuk.

The law paves the way for polls seen as vital to reconciling the country's divided communities, especially with Sunni Arabs who boycotted the last provincial elections in 2005.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki wants the election to take place on Oct. 1, but the Electoral Commission has said it will not have time to organise the vote by then.

"Today parliament passed the provincial elections law, in the absence of the Kurdish alliance, which walked out," Hanin Qado, a lawmaker from the ruling Shi'ite alliance, told Reuters.

The law had been held up by a dispute over what to do about voting in multi-ethnic Kirkuk, where a dispute is simmering between Kurds who say the city should belong to the largely autonomous Kurdistan region and Arabs who want it to stay until central government authority. (Writing by Tim Cocks, Editing by Dean Yates)

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