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Provinces in focus as Iraq counts votes
16.10.2005
By Andrew Quinn
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BAGHDAD (Reuters)
- Iraqi officials counted ballots on Sunday after a
historic vote on a U.S.-backed constitution with the
fate of the document in the hands of a few provinces
where Sunnis may muster enough "No" votes to block
it.
A massive security clampdown prevented any serious
insurgent attacks on voting day, with only scattered
strikes reported around the country after months of
Sunni Arab militant bloodshed that has killed
thousands.
Election officials said partial results from the
vote could be available as early as Sunday, but that
it would take several days for the verdict to become
clear.
If the constitution passes Iraq will go to the polls
again in December to elect a new, four-year
parliament in a step that Washington says will mark
its full emergence as a sovereign democracy and new
Western ally.
A "No" vote would force the country's warring
factions back to the drawing board, limiting
December's election to a new interim government to
redraft the charter.
Most of Iraq's 18 provinces were expected to support
the constitution, following Shi'ite and Kurdish
government leaders who have tailored many of its
provisions to their needs.
But it could still be blocked if two thirds of the
voters in at least three provinces reject it.
Electoral officials said as many as 10 million of
Iraq's eligible 15.5 million voters cast ballots,
which would give a turnout of around 65 percent --
higher than the 58 percent recorded in January when
the country went to the polls for the first time
since Saddam Hussein's 2003 overthrow.
Despite the uncertainty, Saturday's election won
praise from the United Nations and the Bush
Administration.
"The vote today is an important milestone. They will
have elections in December for a permanent
government. Every time the Iraqi people have been
given an opportunity to express themselves
politically they have taken it," U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice told the BBC in an interview.
FOCUS ON MOSUL
The White House praised the large turnout in the
referendum and the calm relative to the January
election of an interim government when more than 40
people were killed in more than 100 insurgent
attacks, including suicide bombings.
"It appears that the level of violence was well
below the last election," White House spokesman
Allen Abney said.
"Today's vote deals a severe blow to the ambitions
of the terrorists and sends a clear message to the
world that the people of Iraq will decide the future
of their country through peaceful elections, not
violent insurgencies," he added.
Saturday's ballot came exactly three years to the
day after Iraq's last constitutional referendum,
which asked voters if they wanted to extend Saddam's
rule by seven years. The results gave Saddam 100
percent on a 100 percent turnout in a gesture of
defiance toward a U.S. administration set on
toppling him.
This year Iraq's sectarian feuds have ruled out such
an unambiguous outcome, with many Sunnis fearful
Iraq may break up into Shi'ite and Kurdish spheres
that will deprive them of both power and oil.
At least two Sunni-dominated provinces -- Anbar to
the west and Salahadin around Saddam's hometown of
Tikrit -- are all but certain to vote heavily "No".
An electoral official in Tikrit itself, Saleh Farah,
said votes against the constitution in the city were
43,571 -- or 96 percent of those voting.
The key could lie in the northern province of
Nineveh and the city of Mosul. Sitting some 400 km
(250 miles) north of Baghdad, Mosul has a volatile
mix of about two million Sunni Arabs and Kurds near
some of Iraq's richest oil fields.
Arabs accuse Kurdish leaders, whose autonomous
region of Kurdistan lies just outside the city, of
packing Mosul with Kurds. The Kurds deny this, but
it is unclear if Sunni opponents of the constitution
can rally the numbers to swing the province to the
"No" camp and defeat the constitution nationally.
Few were betting on the outcome, and at least one
prominent Sunni leader said that the real answer to
Sunni fears may be to seek changes within the new
political system.
"If we are certain that no serious infringements or
fraud have occurred, then we will deal seriously
with the new reality," said Hussein al-Falluji, who
negotiated on the current version of the
constitution.
"We're focusing on taking part in the coming
election at full strength to create a new balance in
parliament and then we will act firmly to amend the
constitution."
Reuters
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