Draft constitution covers diverse interests

A wide array of ideas shaped the Iraqi charters 139 articles. It has features that delight some and anger others.

Last updated: August 30, 2005 | 01:00

5 MIN READ

Built atop the still-smouldering debris of Saddam Hussain's 35-year rule, Iraq's draft constitution is a document born of past grievances and future hopes.

It has features that will delight social democrats while angering feminists, encourage some of Iraq's minorities while enraging others.

The United Nations and other organisations provided Iraq's 71-member constitutional committee with Arabic translations of constitutions from the secular West as well as the pious East and a wide array of ideas shape the Iraqi charter's 139 articles.

But in the end, the document reflected Iraqi experiences and concerns.

The draft constitution's provisions include:

The role of Islam: Article 2 establishes Islam as the official religion of the state and is a basic source of legislation, guarantees the "Islamic identity'' of the majority of the Iraqi people and requires that no law contradicts the "undisputed'' rules of Islam.

But it also requires that laws do not contradict democratic principles and basic freedoms as well as safeguarding religious freedoms dear to Iraq's Christians and other minority faiths.

The language represented a compromise between pious Shiite Muslims who had demanded that Islam be the main source of legislation and Kurds and urban liberals who had sought a secular system.
Ties to the Arab world: Article 3 defines Iraq as a "multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-sect country'' that is part of the "Islamic world'', while its Arabs "are part of the Arab nation''.

That clause outraged Sunni Arabs who demanded that all of Iraq be considered an Arab nation and have appealed to the Arab League for help.
Minorities: Article 4 defines broad rights for Iraq's ethnic minorities, especially Kurds. It makes Kurdish as well as Arabic an official language, requiring both for government documents, money, passports and postage stamps.

It also allows Iraq's Turkoman, Assyrians and Armenians to have their children taught their languages in public schools.
Baathists: Article 7 outlaws hate groups that advocate terrorism or racism, "especially the Saddamist Baath Party and its symbols, under any name''. It commits Iraq to fighting terrorism.

Minority Sunni Arabs, who held great influence under Saddam, had asked that language specifying the Baath Party be eliminated from the constitution for fear that lower-level party members who had committed no crimes during the regime would be alienated from public life.
Militias: Article 9 bans the formation of militias outside the framework of the armed forces. Such militias, often loyal to political parties, have run rampant in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003 and many Iraqis will be glad to see them go.

But many Iraqis consider the Kurds' peshmerga warriors, who continue to exist in the north, as an ethnic militia loyal to Kurdish parties.
Religious shrines: Article 10 commits the new Iraqi state to protecting and maintaining the country's many shrines and religious sites. Saddam often violated the sanctity of Shiite sites, which include the tombs of Imams Ali and Hussain, grandsons of the Prophet Mohammad(PBUH) revered worldwide.

However, the constitution omits language Shiites had wanted granting special status for Iraq's highest-level clergy.
Dual citizenship: Article 18 grants every Iraqi the right to dual citizenship. Sunni Arabs and others opposed this provision, but they were overruled by Iraq's new political class, many of whom spent decades abroad during Saddam's reign.
Welfare state: Articles 28 to 34 define Iraq as a welfare state in the tradition of Western Europe. The constitution exempts the poor from taxes while guaranteeing universal health care and free education at all levels for all Iraqis, without defining how to fund such ambitious plans.

It guarantees the right of Iraqis to a clean environment and committing the state to preserving the "biological diversity'' of wildlife, again without explaining how the goals will be reached.
Civil liberties: Article 36 guarantees Iraqis the freedom of speech, assembly and press with a limitation meant to appease Iraq's traditionalists and religious fundamentalists: "as long as it does not violate public order and morality''.
Women: Article 39 gives Iraqis the choice to define their "personal status'' according to their own beliefs, supplementing Iraq's civil laws governing marriage, divorce and inheritance with the option to turn to religious clerics in matters of family law.

Iraq's Islamists originally wanted to put all such laws under the jurisprudence of clerics. But secular Iraqis and many women demanded that Iraq's previous laws be kept.

They fear that under this provision women in more restrictive environments still might be forced by husbands and fathers to accept religious rather than civil rulings.
Religious rituals: Article 41 gives Iraqis the freedom to perform religious rituals and run their own religious endowments, a victory for Shiites who were banned by Saddam from taking part in centuries-old ceremonies and forced to succumb to state administration of their faith.
The parliament: Articles 47 to 63 spell out Iraq's two-house legislative authority made up of Council of Representatives and Council of Union.

The directly elected representatives will have the most clout, with one seat for every 100,000 Iraqis and the responsibility to make laws, oversee the government, reject or approve cabinet appointments and impeach the president. The Council of Union reviews bills related to regional issues.
The executive: Articles 64 to 84 defines the powers of a relatively weak president who must confer with a prime minister or legislators on making big decisions and is largely reduced to receiving ambassadors and leading the armed forces at parades.

Even the medals he awards come on the recommendation of the prime minister. Sunni Arabs loathe this provision, but after the Saddam era, Shiites and Kurds had no intention of vesting both power and prestige in one strong leader.

Much of the power for implementing policy and security will be in the hands of a prime minister and the cabinet.
The courts: Article 90 allows experts in Islamic as well as regular law to serve on the supreme federal court.

Iraqi Shiites had originally wanted a separate court to vet laws according to Islamic criteria, but secular Iraqis and Sunnis were outraged, fearing an Iranian-style guardian council, which approves all laws.
Oil: Article 110 puts the federal government in charge of administering current oil and gas fields while leaving vague the language on how to distribute money derived from energy finds. Kurds and Shiites originally wanted specific formulas for distributing oil wealth.

The law now only calls for a formula that compensates areas deprived of development under the previous regime. Saddam lavished much of Iraq's oil wealth on largely Sunni areas while leaving the mainly Shiite south to languish.
Federalism: Articles 113 to 116 define Iraq as a federal state and spell out the mechanism for provinces to form into regions. A referendum can be held if one-third of an area's local legislators or one-tenth of its voters ask for one.

A simple majority vote would create a federal region. This has been the provision that has mo

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