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Iraqis approve new constitution

Atul Aneja

Stage set for elections to new Iraqi parliament in December

DUBAI: Iraqi citizens have approved their new constitution, despite a negative vote in two provinces having a majority Sunni population.

Nearly 78 per cent of voters backed the draft, while 21 percent opposed it in the referendum held on October 15, electoral commission officials said.

With the constitution approved, the stage has been set for elections to a new Iraqi parliament in December.

Sunni groups had sought to muster a two-thirds majority in three provinces to block the constitution, in accordance with election rules. They managed to do so in two provinces— Anbar and Salahuddin — with overwhelming majorities.

But in the swing province of Nineveh, which has a mixed population of Sunnis and Kurds, 44 per cent approved it. Election official Farid Ayar described the vote as "100 per cent correct" with "no cases of fraud that could affect the results of the vote."

Iraq's Shia and Kurdish communities have supported the constitution.

A senior United Nations official in Iraq, Karina Perelli, said the election had been conducted fairly.

Sunni leaders however denounced the results. Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Sunni leader who was involved in negotiations on the constitution draft, called the referendum a "farce" and said government forces stole ballot boxes to diminish the size of the negative vote.

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