| The Constitution will be distributed to Iraqis along with rations. The political process in Iraq has reached a dead end, threatening an outbreak of civil strife. Yesterday, Sunni leaders called on the people to vote against the new constitution. This happened after Shiite and Kurdish parliamentarians signed a draft permanent basic law.
The compromise fell apart due to disagreements over the federalization of Iraq and the provision of self-government not only to the Kurds, but also to the Shiite Arabs. The Sunni minority, which dominated under Saddam Hussein, fears the collapse of the state. In addition, the Sunnis, apparently, have not agreed on quotas for their representation in the executive branch. They said not all of their amendments to the draft constitution were taken into account by the Shiites and Kurds, who did not frame them as “controversial issues” and did not postpone them, as the Sunnis had demanded, for consideration by the new parliament, which is to be elected in December.
Now the draft of the new constitution will be put to a referendum on October 15. The press service of the transitional parliament said that five million copies of the text of the basic law will be distributed along with the food rations that every Iraqi family receives monthly from the government. The country is home to about 25 million people, but families there usually have large families, so the mailing will be enough for all voters.
But the Sunnis will probably reject the project. They have a majority in the four provinces of the center and west of the country, and according to the law, it is enough for the constitution to fail in three of the eighteen provinces. Yesterday, Sunnis openly complained that they were threatened by American Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, emphasizing that “his threats have no effect.” Indeed, the Americans and the Shiite-Kurdish majority constantly made concessions in negotiations with the Sunnis. At first, the Sunnis were promised a share of oil revenues proportional to the population of their provinces, which is rich in the Shiite south and the Kurdish north. Then an article was removed from the constitution that could have become a legal basis for the prosecution of members of the Baath Party that ruled under Saddam and is now banned - most of them were Sunnis.
On Saturday, US military authorities in Iraq released about a thousand prisoners, including former Sunni rebels, from Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison. President Bush then called on Americans to be patient as the effort in Iraq "will take more time and more casualties." At the end of difficult negotiations with the Sunnis, the Shiites and Kurds adjusted the provisions on federalism and autonomies, muting the theme of their self-determination: in the draft constitution the state was declared a union.
Georgiy Mirsky, chief researcher at IMEMO RAS, shared his assessment of the situation in Iraq with Vremya Novostey: “Sunni politicians - not all, but the most active and cunning - aimed at the failure of the constitution in the October referendum. Although they were largely met halfway, they deliberately exaggerate the problem of federalism. The Sunni strategy is clear - to achieve a significant strengthening of their position after the new parliamentary elections. They boycotted the January elections, but now they have realized what they have done, and it is possible that the Sunnis will make peace with the Shiite majority, which is theirs. without his own autonomy, he feels like he is the master of the situation. Then federalism will be completely buried, and the Kurds, the overwhelming majority of whom are in favor of independence, will be deprived."
However, Iraqi Kurdish President Jalal Talabani is “optimistic about the constitution.” He said: “With the exception of the Holy Quran, there is no scripture so perfect that it cannot be supplemented or corrected.” Alexander SAMOKHOTKIN |
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