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Many
of those supporting the constitution worry about how
it will be put into effect.
Sunni politicians may have issued a clear rejection
of the new constitution, but even amongst those
groups who back it there are significant concerns.
Sunnis interviewed by IWPR said they rejected the
draft constitution, approved by the National
Assembly on Auguts 28, because it advocates
federalism, which they fear will divide Iraq, and
bans Baathism, the political ideology so many of
them subscribed to.
Sunni lawmakers also opposed these provisions, but
the Shia and Kurdish lawmakers who largely wrote and
approved the constitution decided to go ahead with
the vote on the constitution without the Sunnis.
After a one-week extension for submitting the draft
to the parliament on August 22 and several delays on
voting on the charter, Shia and Kurdish
parliamentarians said they could no longer wait for
Sunnis to accept federalism.
Iraqis will have the chance to vote on the
constitution during a referendum on October 15. The
charter will fail if two-thirds of voters in three
out of Iraq’s 18 governorates reject it.
"This constitution, in which we find obvious
sectarianism, won't succeed," said Abdul-Razaq al-Inizi,
a 57-year-old Sunni merchant in Baghdad.
Ziyad al-Alwani, a 30-year-old Sunni driver in
Baghdad, said he won’t agree to anything that
divides Iraq, referring to federalism, and he is
ready to defend the country against it.
"And the Baath issue should not be made explicit
since it was a phase of the past that has now gone,”
he said. “It should not be focused on."
Although many Shia support the constitution,
followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have
signaled their opposition. Al-Sadr opposes
federalism and has dismissed the constitution as the
work of Americans.
Ahmed al-Saidi, a 32-year-old Shia supermarket owner
in Sadr City, the Baghdad suburb that is one of
Muqtada’s strongholds, said the Kurds got the most
out of the constitution by maintaining their already
established semi-autonomous entity in the north and
having Arabic and Kurdish recognised as the two
official languages of the country.
"If we are living in one country, then why should we
use two languages? And if there is federalism in the
north, there should be federalism in the south and
middle, or else it should all be cancelled,” he
said.
Other Iraqis were more optimistic that the
constitution will usher in a new era for Iraq.
Abdul-Jalil Hadi, 50, said he finds the general
framework of the constitution acceptable, but he
feels the details are a bit ambiguous and need more
explanation.
"I'm glad the constitution has been drafted and, God
willing, we will win the endorsement of majority of
Iraqis," said Hadi, a Baghdad resident.
Other Shias in the south and Kurds in the north said
they were generally pleased with the charter,
although they still expressed some reservations.
Jafar Yasin, a 35-year-old Shia from Amarah, said he
hoped approval of the constitution would signal the
departure of Coalition forces.
“We hope a consensus can be reached and approved by
the public, so that Iraqis can take charge and the
foreigners leave,” he said.
Haydar Musa, a 34-year-old Shia from the same town,
said the public needs to be cautious as the
government may not fully implement the
constitution’s provisions. “But [its] wording looks
transparent and clear and raises our hopes," he
said.
Kurds are generally satisfied with the latest
wording of the draft but are also concerned about
the extent to which the constitution will be
implemented.
"This constitution contains many positive points,”
said Sara Qadir Mohammed, a 24-year-old journalist
in Sulaimaniyah. “But the important point is how
it's going to be applied, as it contains some
elastic points that you can interpret according to
your views."
Rebin Hardi, a Kurdish writer in Sulaimaniyah,
agreed, although he conceded that the drafting of
the constitution is the first step toward building
democracy. He added that all political groups had to
make concessions, including the Kurds, who lost
their bid to include self-determination in the
constitution.
“But we won other rights,” he said. “Still, in
practical terms, to what extent will this
constitution be respected?"
Duraed Salman, Nameer Hussein al-Rubaie and
Ferhad Mahmood are IWPR trainees.
www.iwpr.net
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