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Iraq Constitution: Indefinite deadlines
Iraq's National Assembly has yet to agree on a draft constitution. But dates can only be stretched so far, writes Salah Hemeid
The deadline set by the Iraqi National Assembly for endorsing the constitution ends today, with Iraq's Sunnis facing mounting pressure to approve the draft constitution.
On Wednesday Iraqi President Jalal Talabani held marathon talks with Sunni leaders who had rejected the draft constitution and denounced it as "illegal".
"We should respect the demands of Sunnis... the constitution must not serve particular sections of the population but the whole of Iraq," Talabani told reporters after the meeting.
Iraq's provisional parliament received a draft of the country's constitution three minutes before the second deadline of midnight on Monday. The 275-member assembly did not, however, vote on the charter. Speaker Hajim Al-Hassani told the assembly, which had gathered shortly before midnight, that while the text of the document had been received, the final wording had still to be worked out and the deadline would therefore be extended for three days.
Al-Hassani acknowledged that those charged with drafting the constitution had failed to reach a consensus though he initially shied away from elucidating the points of disagreement. Later he told reporters that the disagreement was focussed on federalism, de- Baathification and power sharing.
The original deadline for the writing of a constitution was 15 August. Following four months of intensive debate, and no agreement, that deadline was extended by a week. On Monday it was effectively extended for a further three days as negotiators sought to hammer out a formula acceptable to all Iraq's ethnic and sectarian groups.
The three-day delay was aimed at obtaining the agreement of Iraq's Sunni Arabs. Kurds and Shias control 215 seats in the assembly, sufficient to endorse the draft, but without the support of Sunnis, who comprise an estimated 20 per cent of the population, the constitution has little chance of being ratified in the 15 October referendum. Under the provisional state law the constitution will be voted down if it is opposed by two- thirds of the electorate in three or more of Iraq's 18 provinces. Sunni Arabs form the majority in at least four provinces, and are mobilising for a much stronger showing than in the 30 January elections, which they boycotted. In some areas the Sunni turnout was as low as two per cent, leaving them underrepresented, with just 17 seats in the assembly and a limited role on the committee charged with drafting the constitution. Now, though, Iraq's electoral commission is opening registration centres in Sunni towns where previously insurgents had threatened to kill the commission's workers and anyone who voted.
Sunni objections focus mainly on federalism, which they fear could divide Iraq and cut them off from most of the country's vast oil wealth.
"We will stand against anyone who wants to divide Iraq and fulfil this grand plot against the country," Adnan Al-Dulaimi, a leading Sunni figure, told reporters on Wednesday. "We are determined to safeguard the unity of Iraq. We call on all Iraqis to work together to maintain Iraq's unity."
They have also insisted that the constitution must drop any reference to a continued policy of de-Baathification.
Read More
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/757/fr2.htm
On Wednesday Iraqi President Jalal Talabani held marathon talks with Sunni leaders who had rejected the draft constitution and denounced it as "illegal".
"We should respect the demands of Sunnis... the constitution must not serve particular sections of the population but the whole of Iraq," Talabani told reporters after the meeting.
Iraq's provisional parliament received a draft of the country's constitution three minutes before the second deadline of midnight on Monday. The 275-member assembly did not, however, vote on the charter. Speaker Hajim Al-Hassani told the assembly, which had gathered shortly before midnight, that while the text of the document had been received, the final wording had still to be worked out and the deadline would therefore be extended for three days.
Al-Hassani acknowledged that those charged with drafting the constitution had failed to reach a consensus though he initially shied away from elucidating the points of disagreement. Later he told reporters that the disagreement was focussed on federalism, de- Baathification and power sharing.
The original deadline for the writing of a constitution was 15 August. Following four months of intensive debate, and no agreement, that deadline was extended by a week. On Monday it was effectively extended for a further three days as negotiators sought to hammer out a formula acceptable to all Iraq's ethnic and sectarian groups.
The three-day delay was aimed at obtaining the agreement of Iraq's Sunni Arabs. Kurds and Shias control 215 seats in the assembly, sufficient to endorse the draft, but without the support of Sunnis, who comprise an estimated 20 per cent of the population, the constitution has little chance of being ratified in the 15 October referendum. Under the provisional state law the constitution will be voted down if it is opposed by two- thirds of the electorate in three or more of Iraq's 18 provinces. Sunni Arabs form the majority in at least four provinces, and are mobilising for a much stronger showing than in the 30 January elections, which they boycotted. In some areas the Sunni turnout was as low as two per cent, leaving them underrepresented, with just 17 seats in the assembly and a limited role on the committee charged with drafting the constitution. Now, though, Iraq's electoral commission is opening registration centres in Sunni towns where previously insurgents had threatened to kill the commission's workers and anyone who voted.
Sunni objections focus mainly on federalism, which they fear could divide Iraq and cut them off from most of the country's vast oil wealth.
"We will stand against anyone who wants to divide Iraq and fulfil this grand plot against the country," Adnan Al-Dulaimi, a leading Sunni figure, told reporters on Wednesday. "We are determined to safeguard the unity of Iraq. We call on all Iraqis to work together to maintain Iraq's unity."
They have also insisted that the constitution must drop any reference to a continued policy of de-Baathification.
Read More
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/757/fr2.htm
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As fresh violence broke out across the country, including fighting between rival Shia political groups, talks in Baghdad to codify the basis for a postwar state in Iraq were once more mired in arguments about religion, federalism and how to treat members of the former Baathist regime.
The outcome could have huge ramifications for Iraq’s future, although ordinary Iraqis are more concerned about surviving the growing violence and oppressive heat.
In the latest atrocity, police in the southern province of Wasit discovered the half- naked bodies of 36 men dumped by a roadside near the Iranian border.
Gunmen opened fire on a 15-vehicle convoy belonging to President Talabani south of Kirkuk. Mr Talabani was in Baghdad, trying to resolve the constitutional stalemate, but eight of his bodyguards were killed and fifteen wounded.
Iraq also suffered a second day of violent clashes between Shia fighters loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, the populist religious leader, and his rival Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Disturbances between their supporters in the holy city of Najaf led to shootings across Shia cities in the south that left six people dead.
The constitution was supposed to be ready by August 15. Iraqi parliamentarians then voted to extend the deadline by one week. On Monday they approved a new three-day extension that was due to expire last night. The speaker of the Parliament then announced a one-day extension minutes after the midnight deadline.
A copy of the draft constitution seen by The Times revealed why the discussions have been so fraught. Many of the 153 articles reflect the wording of constitutions the world over, but half a dozen passages have provoked huge controversy.
Iraq’s Sunni minority, the dominant political class during Saddam Hussein’s era, are particularly concerned about the provisions for a federal state that would give regions a cut of the country’s huge oil wealth, which is located only in the Shia-dominated south and Kurdish north.
Hussein al-Falluja, a Sunni member of the constitution panel, said: “If this constitution continues to include federalism, it should be put in the bin and done again.”
The Sunnis are also furious about provisions that would ban the former Baath Party and bar its former senior officials from holding public office.
Another controversial aspect is the role of Islam, which would be enshrined as the official religion of Iraq and a basic source of its law. Experts in Sharia (Islamic law) would even be given seats in the country’s new supreme court.
Secular groups, non-Muslims and women are horrified at the prospect, which some fear will lead to the country becoming an Islamic republic, like Iran.
Safia Souhail, the Iraqi Ambassador to Cairo, said:
“Human rights should not be linked to Sharia at all. We have lost all the gains we made over the past 30 years. It is a big disappointment.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1750758,00.html
Politicians from the main religious and ethnic groups had been due to convene a parliamentary session on Thursday to approve the draft charter.
It was the third deadline the Iraqi parliament has missed on putting forward the draft.
"The parliament session has been postponed without setting a new date, until meetings are finished and (leaders) reach an agreement on pending issues," a spokesman for the legislature said, but downplayed the importance of the delay.
"As the draft constitution has already been submitted to the national assembly, there is no legal problem (in delaying) as far as the interim law is concerned," he said.
Late Thursday parliament speaker Hajim al-Hasani said talks had been extended until Friday, but said a parliamentary vote on the draft charter could be by-passed.
"If we do not reach an agreement over pending issues, the constitution will be presented to the Iraqi people on October 15 to ratify," he told reporters.
"The law says that the national assembly should draft the constitution. It has been drafted. But the draft that I present to the Iraqi people eventually, will be the one to vote on."
Drafting of the constitution — which was initially due to have been submitted to parliament on August 15 — has been dogged by disputes over a range of issues including federalism, the role of Islam and the distribution of oil revenues.
Shiite and Kurdish politicians, who have a majority in parliament, reached a deal on an incomplete text that was submitted to the assembly on Monday, but they failed to bring the Sunni Arabs on board.
"Everybody is working to get the Sunni support. They still oppose federalism and oil wealth distribution, but leaders are optimistic that they will agree,” Kurdish negotiator Mahmud Othman said.
The political haggling took place against a backdrop of more violence, as the bodies of 37 apparently tortured and executed men were discovered in a stream south of Baghdad.
The men appeared to be Shiite soldiers from the south, a police officer said, adding that military uniforms were found in suitcases nearby.
Seven people were killed and dozens wounded in clashes on Wednesday between supporters of Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr and those of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), a formerly Iran-based religious party.
Sadr, who launched two uprisings against US forces last year, appealed for calm.
"I call upon the people of Iraq... to preserve Muslim blood and go back home. I call upon them to maintain calm," he said.
Sadr assumed a low profile following last year's uprising, but re-emerged on the political scene in April, saying the fight to get US troops out of the country was now purely political.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=119096®ion=6