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Many ordinary Iraqis
voted to ratify their new constitution without
knowing much about what was in it.
"I didn't read it. Friends told me it was good,"
said Mohammed Hashim, a 26-year-old Shiite cook, who
voted "yes" in the October 15 referendum.
Many still don't know much about the document. But
some of those who do are calling for amendments to
some of its vague and controversial provisions. The
issue will be key in coming months as Iraq struggles
to forge national unity and keep itself from falling
into civil war.
Under a deal to win Sunni Arab support for the
constitution, parliament must consider amendments in
its first four months. If legislators approve the
changes, they will be sent to voters in a new
referendum.
Points of contention
The main issues of contention, as the fight looms
are:
The influence of religion on daily life. One clause
prohibits any law that "contradicts the established
provisions of Islam," raising concerns about whether
Iraq will become a Muslim theocracy like neighboring
Iran.
The constitution divides the country along ethnic
and religious lines into three largely
self-governing regions. Some see this as the best
way to protect the interests of each group, but
others worry it is a formula for civil war.
Because each region will control future oil
discoveries in its own area, the Sunni minority,
which lives in the oil-poor center, may not benefit
equally from the riches.
The constitution does little to protect women's or
human rights.
And many of the constitution's provisions are
unclear or contradictory, raising doubts that it can
serve as a set of rules for self-government.
Disagreements about what, if anything, should be
changed in the document run along the country's
religious and ethnic fault lines. The main players
are the Kurds, an ethnic minority, and two groups of
Arabs, the Sunni and Shiites, who practice different
brands of Islam and have a long history of
animosity.
In the north, the Kurds, who were persecuted under
the old regime, seek as much autonomy as possible -
and most of them would prefer outright independence.
In the oil-poor central region, the Sunnis, who
controlled Iraq before the U.S. invasion, resent the
loss of their power and fear being dominated by the
more populous Shiites. The insurgency is centered
there.
In the oil-rich southern region, the populous
Shiites, finally free of Sunni domination, are eager
to assert their power but disagree over how to go
about it. Some seek to dominate the new central
government, while others are content to build a
strong, semiautonomous state. It is here that Iran,
also dominated by Shiites, is exerting a strong
influence on public affairs.
The Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites disagree among
themselves about a key point: Should the new Iraq
have a secular government or one dominated by Muslim
clerics and controlled by religious law?
Critics and Iraqis drafting the constitution said
pressures from the United States to meet the October
15 referendum deadline played a big part in
producing a constitution that is vague and partially
contradictory. About 50 of over 130 clauses were not
completed before the vote and were deferred until
the new parliament convenes sometime this winter or
spring.
Too many issues
"We were in a hurry and under pressure. We had a
deadline to meet and too many issues to deal with,"
recalled Abdul-Razzak Zanganeh, a Kurdish MP who
helped draft the constitution.
The text of the first draft was read to the National
Assembly at the end of August. Copies of an amended
draft were distributed to the public - though not to
the entire nation - just a few days before the vote.
Many Shiites who did not have time to read the
constitution voted "yes," putting their faith in
religious leaders who backed it.
Hashim, the cook who voted yes, said Grand Ayatollah
Ali al-Sistani, the Shiites' supreme religious
leader, endorsed it, so there was no need for him to
read it.
Constitutional lawyer Bushra al-Obeidi, who is
campaigning to have many of the provisions changed,
complained the clauses about religious and secular
law are especially unclear.
According to Article 2, "Islam is the official
religion of the state and it is a fundamental source
of legislation."
It adds that "No law that contradicts the
established provisions of Islam may be established."
Since there is no agreement on what constitutes
"established provisions," Iraqi secularists fear
that will allow clerics to impose their own
interpretation of Islamic law.
Secular or religious law?
Some Iraqis say the most confusing and unworkable is
the clause that says Iraqis can decide whether they
want to opt out of secular, civil personal law on
issues like marriage, divorce, alimony and
inheritance, and instead choose religious canon law.
Since Islamic law generally favors men (a sister
gets half the inheritance of a brother), there may
be conflict if one party chooses religious law and
the other the civil code. The constitution does not
address this.
Shiite inheritance law is a little more favorable to
women than Sunni law. What happens if a sister
chooses a civil law and her brother chooses a Sunni
or even Shiite law to settle an inheritance dispute?
And unlike Sunnis, Shiites allow temporary
marriages. Sunni and Shiite men are allowed to have
up to four wives at the same time.
"This will lead to a huge legal chaos," warned al-Obeidi.
Iman Abdul-Jabbar, 47, a Shiite dentist and women's
rights activist, said the confusion will create a
need for too many courts.
Abdul-Jabbar, who is married to a Sunni, also
worries the personal status law could restrict
intermarriages between the two Muslim sects, now
common in Iraq.
She proposes retaining a 1950s' era law - with some
amendments - that is considered by Iraqis as the
most progressive family law in the Middle East. It
made polygamy difficult, granted child custody to
the mother in case of divorce and prohibited
marriage under age 16.
Religion and women's rights aren't the only
contentious parts.
On the national level, the constitution sanctions
the division of the country into three disparate
states: Kurdistan in the north, an
Iranian-influenced Shiite Muslim state in the south,
and a Sunni Muslim region in the center. The Sunnis,
the disaffected community that forms the backbone of
the insurgency, has no overall political or
religious leader.
Some Iraqis see a three-state solution as the best
way to avoid conflict between the regions, but
others fear it is a recipe for civil war.
"I am concerned about the fire that's now burning
quietly under the ashes," said al-Obeidi.
The three-state solution also sets up oil as a key
dispute.
In drafting the constitution, the Kurds, who have
been living in an autonomous region in the north for
the past 15 years, got most of what they wanted - a
Kurdish federation in the north that will manage
existing oil fields and have full control over new
ones. The Shiites will also control new oil reserves
in their regions.
But oil experts note that more than 55 percent of
Iraq's oil reserves are untapped and say handing all
that to the regions is unworkable.
"The articles on oil are so blurred and so unclear
and so contradictory, that it will never work," said
oil consultant Karim Shamaa. Only a unified central
body can formulate policies, long-term plans and
conduct negotiations with the outside world, he
said.
The constitution also defers a decision on the
future of the oil city of Kirkuk, which the Kurds
believe is theirs.
Despite such problems, others find the constitution
contains much of value.
Abdul-Jabbar is happy that Iraqi citizenship is
allowed to children of Iraqi mothers as well as
fathers, something new in the Muslim world.
And former U.S. diplomat and Iraq expert Peter
Galbraith says the constitution could hold the
country together, rather than break it apart.
He says the constitution limits the Iranian
domination to the southern half of country.
"Since sectarian war is already underway between
Sunni Arabs and Shiites in Baghdad and some other
parts of the country, it is hard to see how a
centralized Iraq run by Shiites could serve the
interests of its Sunni population," Galbraith writes
in a recent report.
AP
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