IRAQ: Late ammendments to constitution woo Sunni support

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

BAGHDAD, 13 Oct 2005 (IRIN) - The Iraqi government has introduced a series of last-minute amendments to the country’s new constitution aimed at winning support from the country’s largely hostile Sunni Arab community in Saturday’s referendum.

The Sunnis Arabs, who largely boycotted parliamentary elections in January, had previously been resolutely opposed to the new constitution.

However, the changes, approved hurriedly by parliament on Wednesday, won belated endorsement from the Iraqi Islamic Party, one of two main groups representing Sunni Arab Muslims.

The Sunnis had feared that they would lose power and influence under the new constitution, which grants extensive autonomy to Shia Muslims in the south and ethnic Kurds in the north. These two regions contain most of Iraq’s oil.

Sunnis also feared stigmatisation and discrimination as a result of clauses which condemn the Baathist leadership that held sway under deposed president Saddam Hussein.

The strong-arm leader toppled by a US-led invasion in 2003 is Sunni and so where most of those who held positions of power and influence in his government.

The late amendments dilute the constitution’s commitment to federalism. But more importantly they open the way for an extensive revision of the document by a new parliament to be elected in December. All amendments adopted then would be endorsed by a second referendum in 2006.

"This article gives the chance to those Sunnis who boycotted the last January elections the chance to make important changes or amendments after the constitution has been approved,” said Speaker of the Parliament Hajim al-Hassani.

Sunni split

However, while the Iraqi Islamic Party has embraced the new draft, all other Sunni Arab organisations have continued to reject it.

The only split among them is whether to vote ‘no’ in the referendum or boycott the poll entirely.

“Although the Islamic Party decided to betray us, the rest of us are still united to win by rejecting the constitution, along with all the other minority groups,” said Ahmed Rabia’a, a spokesman for the other Sunni parties, said.

Besides the Sunni Arabs, who account for 15 to 20 percent of Iraq’s 26 million population, the new constitution is opposed by the country’s Christian, Turkoman and Assyrian minorities.

It has also been rejected by some influential leaders from Iraq’s majority Shia community, including the radical cleric Moqtadar al-Sadr, who says it has been imposed by the US-led occupation forces.

The new constitution will be thrown out if it is rejected by a two thirds majority in just three of Iraq's 18 provinces. The Sunni Arabs form a majority of the population in three western and northern provinces, giving them a theoretical chance to veto the document.

Seif al-Sattar, a political analyst who formed part of the constitutional drafting committee, said the last-minute changes to the draft had been introduced too late to make any difference to the way people would vote.

“They had the possibility to introduce these changes two weeks ago, but they waited right till the end....It is not the right way to proceed and it will not make any differenc to the population, which is already largely resigned to the new constitution,” he said.

Voter confusion

Many Iraqis only received copies of the draft constitution a few days before the referendum and none of the five million copies distributed contain the last-minute amendments approved this week.

There is widespread confusion over what the new constitution will mean for Iraq and whether it will make any difference to the lives of people suffering the consequences of an escalating armed insurgency against the US presence in Iraq.

Ali Hussein, a 29-year-old security guard, who for the first time in his life had a copy of the constitution in his hands, complained that the document had been distributed late and that dozens of his family members had no idea what it was all about.

"For two nights I have lain awake trying to read what is inside this document and understand the importance and changes that it will cause in our lives," he told IRIN, suggesting that everybody just needed a little more time.

In the streets of the capital, there has been widespread discussion of the draft constitution and the sticking points that have persuaded many parties and community leaders to reject it.

But many people are still not clear where or how to vote on Saturday, when all streets near polling stations will be closed to traffic to reduce the risk of suicide car bomb attacks on queues of voters.

"My son told me that I have to go to the polling centre to vote but I really don't know what I'm going to vote for or how to do it. I know that it’s about the constitution but what use will it be?" said 58-year-old Zahira Abdel Youssef.

"I don’t know what to choose, because whatever I choose will not make a difference,” she added. “My neighbour told me that the results have already been decided and it is all a joke."

A survey conducted by the United Nations in September found that 65 percent of Iraqis knew little or nothing about the coming referendum, Around 70 percent of those questioned at the time had yet to receive a copy of the draft constitution, which was finalised in late August.

Thousands of potential voters have so far been unable to lay their hands on the document, particularly in the far north.

Farid Ayar, a spokesman for the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI), said only 100,000 of the one million copies printed in Kurdish had actually been distributed.

IECI posters urging people to vote in the referendum appear to have made little impact and in many neighbourhoods local youths have simply torn them down.

Detainees can also vote

Detainees in government jails will be allowed to vote in the referendum, including perhaps Saddam Hussein who is due to go on trial later this month.

Some 6,500 polling stations will be open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and each station will have independent observers and political representatives in place to guarantee that voting takes place fairly and there is no fraud.

"We have prepared excellent volunteers who will help in the voting process in partnership with international and local observers," Ayar said.

Thousands of members of the police and armed forces, as well as US forces, will be on the streets to prevent insurgents from getting close to the polling stations and government buildings and a three-day curfew took effect on Thursday to halt night-time movements.

Shops will be closed and the only way to get to the polling stations will be on foot.

Some potential voters said they were nervous about insurgent attacks to disrupt polling, but many said they were determined to cast their vote.

"We should not be afraid because (abstention) is what the insurgents want,” said Salwa Hisham, a 34-year-old mother of three living in Baghdad. “We should be strong and show them that we Iraqis want a better future for all of us."

[ENDS]