Iraq reverses referendum changes

After a brief debate, politicians voted by 119 to 28 to restore the original rules for the referendum after UN lawyers warned Iraqi leaders that the last-minute changes fell short of international standards.

The referendum, due to be held on October 15, will decide whether to accept the draft constitution, which is backed by the Shia and Kurd majority.

The Sunni minority generally oppose the current proposals and have been trying to gain sufficient support to have them rejected. Under the original election rules, if two-thirds of voters in three of Iraqi's 18 provinces vote against the referendum it would have to be rewritten.

In order to make sure of victory, Kurds and Shias changed the electoral law at the weekend so that such a veto would require two-thirds of the registered voters in the three provinces rather than just two-thirds of those who vote. They also ruled that, for the constitution to pass, only two-thirds of those who vote rather than those who are registered would be sufficient.

That caused uproar among Sunnis and yesterday the UN raised concerns about its legality.

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The original rules, now restored, mean that Sunnis can veto the constitution by getting a two-thirds "no" vote in three provinces, even if the charter wins majority approval nationwide. Sunnis have a sufficient majority in four of Iraq's 18 provinces.

On Sunday, Iraq's Shia- and Kurdish-controlled parliament effectively closed that loophole with their rule change. The legislature decided that a simple majority of those who cast votes means the constitution's victory - but that two-thirds of registered voters must cast "no" ballots in three provinces to defeat it.

That interpretation had raised the bar to a level almost impossible to meet. In a province of 1 million registered voters, for example, 660,000 would have to vote "no" - even if that many didn't go to the polls.

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Iraq's parliament has reversed its decision to change the rules governing a referendum next week on the country's new constitution.

The altered rules would have made it much harder for Sunni opponents of the draft constitution to reject it.

Parliament has now decided to revert to the original rules - as both the United Nations and Washington said it should.

UN legal advisors said that a referendum held under the new rules would not meet international standards.

After a brief debate, MPs voted 119 to 28 to restore the original voting rules for the referendum.

Only about half of the 275-member body attended the vote, although a quorum was achieved.

Unacceptable

The parliament is dominated by an alliance of Shia religious and Kurdish parties who support the new constitution.

On Sunday they voted that the two-thirds majority needed in three provinces to defeat the constitution would be counted from all registered voters, rather than actual voters.

That would have made it much harder to vote down the new charter, especially as turnout could very low in areas where there may be fighting or intimidation.

The UN said the parliament decision was unacceptable and would not meet international standards.

Sunni Arab leaders had reacted angrily to the amendments to the rules, saying it was a fix to prevent their people from getting a veto under the old rules.

"The government is completely keen to make the constitutional process legitimate and of high credibility and we are concerned about the success of this process rather than the results of the referendum," said government spokesman Leith Kubba after the vote.

UN officials have begun distributing 5 million copies of the new constitution to voters across Iraq ahead of the 15 October vote

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4311690.stm