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Sunnis demand new polls in charter row Sunnis demand new polls in chart
BAGHDAD: Sunni Arabs opposed to an Iraqi draft constitution insist new elections should be held because of disputes over the document, a Sunni in the drafting panel said.
Hussein al-Falluji said Sunnis would take the case to an Iraqi court if the document is passed. Falluji argues that a three-day grace period after the Aug 22 deadline was a violation of interim constitution regulations that state the charter should be written by a target date.
“The draft is illegal and it is a violation of the interim constitution,” Falluji, one of 15 Arab Sunnis on the 71-member committee, told Reuters.
“We will take this to a federal court if the constitution passes through parliament, which by law should be dissolved since the deadline was not met.”
Taking the issue to any court could be difficult in the bloody chaos of Iraq, where the Shia and Kurdish leaders who essentially drafted the constitution hope it will lure Sunnis waging an insurgency into peaceful politics.
After weeks of wrangling that forced them to extend an earlier target date to Aug 22, Iraqi leaders presented a draft constitution to parliament on Monday that was fiercely rejected by Sunnis, who predicted more violence and street revolts.
Seeking to calm tempers and bring the Sunnis on board, Shia and Kurdish leaders who dominate the government and parliament announced a three-day period to review the charter.
Minority Sunnis once dominant under Saddam Hussein’s regime have watched their world crumble after his fall in 2003 and January elections that catapulted Shias and Kurds to power.
Arab Sunnis boycotted those elections but say they will take part in future polls, so if parliament is dissolved and new elections held their representation could significantly rise.
President Jalal Talabani made conciliatory noises after a meeting with leading Sunni politicians on Thursday morning.
“There must be consensus over the constitution as a beginning for national reconciliation,” Talabani said, adding he would free 700 Sunni detainees by the Oct. 15 referendum on the charter.
“We will continue meetings until the last minute, despite their being only a few hours before the session,” senior Sunni negotiator Saleh al-Mutlak said at a joint press conference afterwards.
Sunni members of the drafting committee are most fiercely opposed to federalism, which could potentially give Shias and Kurds some control over oil resources in the north and south.
They are pushing for a strong central government with tight control over natural resources in those areas.
Falluji, echoing the views of influential Sunni clerics, said the Sunni Arab minority, which dominates the insurgency, was firmly entrenched in its rejection of the document.
Facing daily suicide bombings and assassinations, Iraqi leaders were hoping the constitution would unite the country against insurgents out to topple the US-backed government.
But negotiations have deepened suspicions between sects, raising fears Iraq is heading towards civil war, not the prosperous democracy promised after Saddam was toppled.
“I have heard there is a desire among the ruling coalition to be a bit more flexible,” Mutlak said. “We were meant to have a meeting with them last night, but they did not show up. reuters
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_26-8-2005_pg4_1
“The draft is illegal and it is a violation of the interim constitution,” Falluji, one of 15 Arab Sunnis on the 71-member committee, told Reuters.
“We will take this to a federal court if the constitution passes through parliament, which by law should be dissolved since the deadline was not met.”
Taking the issue to any court could be difficult in the bloody chaos of Iraq, where the Shia and Kurdish leaders who essentially drafted the constitution hope it will lure Sunnis waging an insurgency into peaceful politics.
After weeks of wrangling that forced them to extend an earlier target date to Aug 22, Iraqi leaders presented a draft constitution to parliament on Monday that was fiercely rejected by Sunnis, who predicted more violence and street revolts.
Seeking to calm tempers and bring the Sunnis on board, Shia and Kurdish leaders who dominate the government and parliament announced a three-day period to review the charter.
Minority Sunnis once dominant under Saddam Hussein’s regime have watched their world crumble after his fall in 2003 and January elections that catapulted Shias and Kurds to power.
Arab Sunnis boycotted those elections but say they will take part in future polls, so if parliament is dissolved and new elections held their representation could significantly rise.
President Jalal Talabani made conciliatory noises after a meeting with leading Sunni politicians on Thursday morning.
“There must be consensus over the constitution as a beginning for national reconciliation,” Talabani said, adding he would free 700 Sunni detainees by the Oct. 15 referendum on the charter.
“We will continue meetings until the last minute, despite their being only a few hours before the session,” senior Sunni negotiator Saleh al-Mutlak said at a joint press conference afterwards.
Sunni members of the drafting committee are most fiercely opposed to federalism, which could potentially give Shias and Kurds some control over oil resources in the north and south.
They are pushing for a strong central government with tight control over natural resources in those areas.
Falluji, echoing the views of influential Sunni clerics, said the Sunni Arab minority, which dominates the insurgency, was firmly entrenched in its rejection of the document.
Facing daily suicide bombings and assassinations, Iraqi leaders were hoping the constitution would unite the country against insurgents out to topple the US-backed government.
But negotiations have deepened suspicions between sects, raising fears Iraq is heading towards civil war, not the prosperous democracy promised after Saddam was toppled.
“I have heard there is a desire among the ruling coalition to be a bit more flexible,” Mutlak said. “We were meant to have a meeting with them last night, but they did not show up. reuters
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_26-8-2005_pg4_1
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A vote was originally postponed Monday by Speaker Hajim al-Hassani, who said three days of talks would be held to try to win over Sunni Arab negotiators.
Iraqi leaders and the U.S. representatives advising them must decide whether to move on without the Sunnis and just vote to approve the charter. The Kurds and Shiites have already agreed.
But, the danger is that such a move could lead to a Sunni walkout, and a possible increase in the Sunni-led insurgency.
By Howard LaFranchi | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
WASHINGTON – When Iraqis went to the polls in January in their first free elections in a half century, the show of purple thumbs and ensuing public enthusiasm had swift local and global impact: The insurgency was at least temporarily thrown off base, and Iraq's Sunnis reconsidered their boycott of the process. Outside the country, Arabs in neighboring countries looked on admiringly, while support for the war effort climbed in the United States.
Now, Iraq is taking the next big step in its emergence from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, with anticipated approval of a new constitution. (As of this writing, it was unclear if additional deliberations would push back a Thursday deadline.) But Iraq and its transition may not get the same bounce that they did from the elections, for a number of key reasons:
• A looming Sunni rejection of the constitution, which could mean its demise in an Oct. 15 referendum.
• Fears among women and minorities that the document does not adequately protect their rights.
• Worries that the constitution, which allows for powerful regions, stabs at national unity and opens to door to a breakup.
• Concern that what was intended to be a national public debate on Iraq's future ended up being largely power-brokering by principal Shiite and Kurdish political parties behind closed doors.
Read More
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0826/p04s01-woiq.html