The Hindu : Shia concerns delay signing of Iraqi Constitution

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 07, 2004

International

International

Shia concerns delay signing of Iraqi Constitution

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, MARCH 6. Declining to accept any major curbs on their power in a post-war Government, Iraqi Shias have stalled the adoption of an interim constitution that was being signed on Friday. Intense behind the scenes activity is now going on so that the Iraqi interim charter can be passed on Monday. Shia politicians are expected to consult Iraq's top Shia spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani on Saturday, before deciding on their stance.

Preparations for Friday's signing ceremony had been completed. A children's choir group had been assembled and an antique desk was brought in for the occasion. But the interim constitution could not be adopted as the five Shia members of the U.S. appointed Iraqi Governing Council, whose signatures were required, failed to show up. Iraqi Shias have apparently raised two major objections to the existing draft. First, they have rejected a provision that allows minorities to veto a permanent constitution.

The draft reportedly said that two-thirds of voters in any of the three Kurdish provinces could veto the permanent charter through a referendum. Iraqi Shias, who are in majority in Iraq, and are likely to emerge as the key players in a new government have found this clause unacceptable. "Some of these provinces have only 400,000 or 500,000 people. We cannot have that number of people rejecting a constitution for 25 million people," Hamed al-Bayati, of the Shia Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) was quoted as saying.

Analysts point out that the last minute hindrances in the adoption of an interim constitution reflect deep seated anxieties that Iraq's minority Kurds and the majority Shias are experiencing. Denied power for 400 years, Shias want a dominant role in governance that is commensurate with their majority status. But the Kurds, whose rights have also been historically denied, are uncomfortable with the rising Shia power. Keen to preserve and expand their autonomy in the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq, the Kurds want their rights to be constitutionally guaranteed. The right to a referendum was therefore meant to discourage the Shias from denying the Kurds their autonomous status in the future. Kurdish council member Mahmoud Othman was quoted as saying said Shias had objected to the referendum clause on the grounds that it enabled a minority to impose its will on the majority.

Second, the Shias want a larger representation in a future-rotating Presidency. Shia members of the governing council are apparently seeking a collective Presidency that would include three Shias, one Kurd and one Sunni Muslim. The draft in its present form caters for a single President with two deputies. The snag in the adoption of a new draft law resulted on account of the Ayatollah Sistani's intervention.

He reportedly raised both the objections to the constitution, which the Council had agreed on Monday. A spokesman for the Council said the various parties would hold consultations among themselves before meeting on Monday. The adoption of the interim constitution, which would set out the framework for how Iraq will be governed after June 30, when the U.S. occupation authorities hand over power to an unelected transitional government was already six days behind schedule. Iraq is expected to hold general elections by early 2005.

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