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Kurdish Leaders Defiant Over Constitution
Vote
8.10.2009
By Shorish Khalid in Sulaimaniyah (ICR No. 308)
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Defying fierce opposition from fellow Kurds and
Arabs, Iraqi Kurdistan’s leaders forge ahead with
referendum plans.
October 8, 2009
SULAIMANIYAH,
Kurdistan region 'Iraq', —
Kurdish officials are planning a January referendum
on a controversial draft constitution for the
region, despite protests that it flouts Iraqi law,
could heighten tensions with Baghdad and even lead
to a dictatorship.
The proposed constitution, which was overwhelmingly
approved by Iraqi Kurdistan’s parliament in June,
gives sweeping powers to the presidency and declares
disputed territories – including the oil-rich
province of Kirkuk – part of the Kurdish region.
Before it can be placed on the statute book, the
planned basic law needs to be ratified in a
referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The draft document has further strained relations
with Arab Iraqis and has been a bone of contention
between the Kurdish authorities and the opposition
who have challenged its legality, warning it could
create a dictatorship in the northern region.
Scores of parliamentarians in Baghdad are also
fiercely opposed to the proposed constitution,
arguing that it not only extends Iraqi Kurdistan’s
borders but also usurps the central government’s
authority – a particularly sensitive issue for some
Iraqis who are wary of Kurdistan’s autonomy.
Despite the criticisms, proponents of the draft are
standing behind the document and want it put to a
referendum during the Iraqi parliamentary elections
in mid-January.
The planned basic law was put together by members of
parliament loyal to the region’s two ruling parties,
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK, and the
Kurdistan Democratic Party, KDP, which together hold
59 seats in the 111-member parliament.
It was overwhelmingly approved on the eve of
elections to Iraqi Kurdistan’s regional parliament
in July, but is now being challenged by opposition
group the Change list.
Leaders of the latter have threatened to dispute the
proposed constitution’s legality in court on the
grounds that legislators pushed through the document
after parliament’s term had expired. The Kurdish
parliament extended its term to approve the
constitution.
“We do not accept the constitution,” said Zana Rauf,
a Change list deputy. “It should not be put to a
referendum. We will not recognise it because the
parliament that approved it was illegitimate.”
Change is demanding that the constitution be debated
in the current parliament, arguing that the document
is illegal and therefore should not go before the
public in a referendum.
The PUK and KDP maintain that the draft basic law
cannot be amended because it has already been
approved by parliament. They say it should be put to
a referendum and then amended, if necessary.
But holding just 25 seats in parliament, Change
would be unlikely to garner the two-thirds of votes
that are required to pass amendments, even with
support from smaller opposition parties.
Kamal Sayid Qadir
 ,
a
critic of the government and a constitutional law
expert, said the planned constitution was drafted
“in the interest of the two ruling parties. Every
effort has been made to ensure that amending [the
document] is so difficult that it is nearly
impossible”.
Iraqi Kurdistan president Massoud Barzani publicly
stated in July that he would support amending parts
related to the presidency in order to get the
document onto the statute book,www.ekurd.netbut
has not commented on the issue since.
Change, which is keen to ease growing tensions
between the Kurdish Regional Government, KRG, and
Baghdad, want the proposed document amended to give
legislators more power.
In particular, they want the removal of articles
which give the president the power to dissolve
parliament, remove ministers and ratify or reject
parliamentary decisions.
Some politicians in Baghdad consider parts of the
planned constitution a direct challenge to the
central government’s authority – fifty legislators
in the central assembly signed a petition opposing
the Kurdish basic law in June.
Baghdad politicians are particularly nervous about
articles in the draft declaring that disputed
territories in the provinces of Nineveh, Diyala and
Kirkuk will be governed by either the KRG or the
central government following a referendum on the
issue.
Kurdish leaders have criticised Baghdad for dragging
its heels over the poll.
The United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon in
August urged the KRG and the region’s parliament to
reconsider the constitution’s provisions on the
disputed territories, warning they “could have the
potential to aggravate tensions and affect ongoing
discussions on the disputed boundaries”.
A referendum on the proposed constitution scheduled
for late July was cancelled a few days after United
Sates vice-president Joe Biden, whom many Kurds
consider an ally, met Barzani. In an interview on
the US news channel ABC,www.ekurd.netBiden
said Iraqi officials had requested that he tell
Kurdish leaders that “passing a constitution through
their parliament in Kurdistan was not helpful to the
process that was under way".
While the referendum is still up in the air, it
remains a critical issue in Iraqi Kurdistan. The
authorities here are keen to ensure that local Kurds
are familiar with draft basic law’s provisions
before a vote takes place, Last month, it ordered
that more than 800,000 copies be distributed to
families picking up their food rations.
“We don’t want [critics] to say, ‘They ratified the
constitution behind closed doors.’ So we will make
the constitution available to every citizen,”
parliament secretary Farsat Ahmed said.
The PUK and KDP note that the planned document was
supported by an overwhelming majority in parliament,
including smaller parties.
The Kurdistan Islamic Union, KIU, backed the draft
after agreement on declaring Islam as a primary
source of the legislation. But some members of KIU,
a moderate Islamist party, are now expressing
reservations about the power afforded the Iraqi
Kurdistan president.
“When the constitution was approved, it was not
thoroughly examined,” said KIU parliamentarian Samir
Salim. “It was done hastily - that much is clear.”
Shorish Khalid is an IWPR-trained journalist in
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region of Iraq
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
Institute for War & Peace Reporting | iwpr net
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