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Talabani: Iraq constitution may be ready
by end July
19.7.2005
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BAGHDAD (AFP) -
Iraq's new post-Saddam Hussein constitution may be
ready ahead of schedule by the end of July if some
final differences are ironed out with the minority
Sunni community, President Jalal Talabani told
reporters.
"The committees working on the constitution are
about to finalise the constitution and it could be
ready by end of the current month," Talabani said
Tuesday.
The writing of the consitution is a key stage in the
political transition of Iraq following the ousting
of Saddam in April 2003 by US-led invasion forces
but has been dogged by some fundamental and
controversial issues. |
President : Jalal Talabani (Mam Jalal) |
"There are some issues
raised by our Sunni Arab brothers about the
constitution and we are discussing them and if we
reach an agreement, I think the constitution could
be ready by end of the current month," he added.
The charter must be finished by August 15 and put to
a national referendum by October 15, according to
the interim law, ahead of planned legislative
elections in December.
Last month, the head of the committee drafting the
constitution, Sheik Humam Hamudi, said the bulk of
document had already been written but the most
sensitive issues were still pending resolution.
Defining and implementing a federal system, the
relationship between the state and the country's
dominant religion Islam, how to deal with the legacy
Saddam's Baath party, and even what to call Iraq are
some of the thorny issues.
Former prime minister Iyad Allawi, whose party is
the third largest in parliament with 40 seats, said
the different groups agreed the charter would be
based on the transitional administrative law written
during the period of the now-defunct US-appointed
Coalition Provisional Authority.
He also predicted that once the constitution is
completed and approved in the referendum scheduled
for October, "Iraq will reach stability."
The 71-member committee working on the constitution
includes two Sunni parliamentarians as well as 15
prominent Sunni Arabs from outside parliament.
Sunni Iraqis who were dominant under Saddam are
under-represented in parliament because they largely
boycotted legislative elections in January, the
first democratic elections in half a century.
The Shiites and Kurds, who now dominate both
parliament and the coalition government of Prime
Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, are pushing hard to
safeguard their interests and incorporate into the
constitution their own vision of the future Iraq.
The Shiite bloc, which is largely ruled by
black-turbaned clerics, wants to give Islam a
prominent and leading role in the affairs of state
and is eager to distance all those who were even
remotely linked to the Baath party.
The Kurds are adamant in their demands for a federal
system that would grant them the northern oil city
of Kirkuk.
Both however say they are eager to reach out to
Sunni Arabs, who dominated Saddam's Iraq and are now
accused of fueling the deadly insurgency.
AFP
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