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Boycott threat to Iraq poll as voting
rules are changed
5.10.2005
By Adrian Blomfield
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Sunni Arab leaders
yesterday threatened to boycott next week's
referendum on a new Iraqi constitution after ruling
party MPs changed voting rules, all but ensuring the
charter will be approved.
The United Nations, which is overseeing the Oct 15
poll, said it would withdraw its seal of approval
unless Iraq's Shia-dominated parliament reversed its
decision.
Laws drawn up when Iraq came under direct US rule
said a new constitution could be rejected by two
thirds of voters in three of the country's 18
provinces. With 20 per cent of the population, Sunni
Arabs make up the majority in four provinces.
But under the new voting procedures a two-thirds
majority must now be secured among all registered
voters, not actual voters, even if they do not cast
their ballots.
If the 60 per cent turnout in January's elections
was repeated, opponents of the referendum would need
to secure over 100 per cent of the vote.
Washington has hailed the draft constitution as a
major democratic breakthrough that will bring Iraq's
three major groups together and cool the insurgency.
But critics argue that it threatens to do the
opposite after Shias and Kurds forced the draft
through parliament.
Saleh al-Mutlaq, the Sunni's main representative on
the committee that drafted the constitution, said a
repeat boycott was again being considered. "There is
no point in participating in a referendum when the
result has already been determined," he added.
UN officials met Shia MPs as well as the Iraqi
government to urge them to undertake an urgent
review of voting procedures.
"We told them that the decision that was taken was
not acceptable," said Jose Aranaz, a legal adviser
to the UN in Iraq. But Shia legislators insisted
they would not back down. "We cannot allow this
constitution, which has overwhelming backing, to be
destroyed by a small minority that doesn't even
believe in the ballot box," said Ali al-Dabbagh, a
Shia MP.
Sunnis object to the constitution's pledge to purge
Saddam Hussein loyalists from the civil service and
security forces, and its provision for federalism.
www.telegraph.co.uk
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