Baghdad ? Iraq’s government made progress on a new election law that could ease tensions and pledged tighter security Monday after suicide bombings claimed at least 155 lives, including as many as two dozen children trapped in a bus leaving a day care center.

But those promises held little sway with Iraqis outraged at the government’s inability to maintain peace in the city.

The twin bombings in what was supposed to be one of the city’s safest areas came as Iraq prepares for pivotal elections in January that will determine who will guide the country through the U.S. withdrawal. The blasts seemed designed to undermine Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has staked his political future on restoring safety to the country.

“Al-Maliki always appears on TV bragging that the situation is stable and security is restored. Let him come and see this mass destruction,” said Ahmed Mahmoud, who had returned to the blast site Monday to search for his brother’s head after identifying his headless body at a hospital morgue by the belt he was wearing.

“I took the body to Najaf for burial. Then I came back looking for the head,” Mahmoud said.

The bombings were perceived as an attack on the Shiite-led government, and senior leaders, including the prime minister, the president and the parliament speaker moved quickly Monday to work out a proposed election law designed to help the country move forward with the January vote, said an official close to the talks.

Lawmakers have been wrangling for weeks about the election law, and observers, including the U.S., had worried that failure to agree on the guidelines might delay the crucial vote.

There were few details on the proposal, which the official said would be presented to political party leaders today before going to the parliament. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the discussions.

Iraqi authorities, meanwhile, scrambled to step up security in the capital, tightening hundreds of checkpoints that already dot the city, snarling traffic for hours. Security reinforcements flooded into the streets, after authorities said they had intelligence showing other targets were next.

“Baghdad security operations decided to step up security and to increase the number of forces especially near government institutions. We have intelligence information that these institutions will be targeted in future attacks,” said Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi.

The damage from Sunday’s bombings was even worse than originally believed, with three major government buildings destroyed or severely damaged. The first blast hit the Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works across the street, followed by a second explosion at the Baghdad Provincial Administration, akin to City Hall.

A busload of children leaving a day care center next to the Justice Ministry was caught in the first blast and 24 children and the bus driver were killed, hospital and police officials said. Six children were wounded, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

An investigation showed that the two vehicles — a minivan and a 26-seat bus, each packed with thousands of pounds of explosives — likely had to pass through multiple security checkpoints before reaching their targets, al-Moussawi said.

Rescuers continued to comb through the twisted metal and concrete slabs Monday in search of more bodies. Firefighters worked to remove the concrete blast walls surrounding the Justice Ministry to make it easier to take out debris — blast walls that only weeks earlier had been moved closer to the building to allow traffic to move more freely.