New deadline for Iraqi constitution
After failing to meet Monday’s midnight deadline, Iraqi leaders have been given an extra three days to resolve the issues still dogging the completion of the constitution draft.
After failing to meet Monday's midnight deadline, Iraqi leaders have been given an extra three days to resolve the issues still dogging the completion of the constitution draft.
In a dramatic last-minute standoff, Iraqi leaders last night put off a vote on the country's new constitution, adjourning Parliament at a midnight deadline to gain time to try to win over the Sunni minority whose support is key to ending the insurgency.
Soon after the charter vote was deferred, the Sunnis issued a statement saying they rejected the draft because the government and the drafting committee did not abide by an agreement for consensus.
"We reject the draft constitution because we did not have an accord on it," said Sunni delegate Nasser Al Janabi. The statement indicated that the Sunnis can try to block any accord with which they disagree.
Earlier yesterday, negotiators finished the draft constitution and submitted it to parliament, which convened for a special session minutes before midnight.
But the draft was withdrawn in the final minutes because of fierce resistance from Sunnis over the issue of federalism, which they fear could cut them out of most of the country's oil wealth.
Parliament speaker Hajim Al Hassani said there was strong interest in reaching unanimity on the draft.
"All the groups in the coming three days will try to reach accord on points over which there are still disagreements," he said. "The draft has been received and we will work on solving the remaining problems." He then adjourned the session without a vote.
Afterwards, he told reporters that the main outstanding issues were federalism, the formation of federal units, problems related to mentioning the Baath Party in the constitution, and the division of powers between the president, the parliament and the Cabinet.
Washington had applied enormous pressure on the Iraqis to meet the original August 15 deadline but parliament instead had to grant a week's extension, which they again failed to meet.
Statute terms country federal
- A draft of Iraq's constitution calls the country "federal" but does not define the concept in detail, a copy of the text says.
- The document describes Iraq as a "republican, parliamentarian, democratic and federal" state, but does not define specifically the degree or nature of the federalism that Kurds and some Shiites are seeking in parts of the country.
- The draft also makes Islam "a main source" for legislation and bans laws that contradict such religious teachings.
- "Islam is a main source for legislation and it is not permitted to legislate anything that conflicts with the fixed principles of the rules of Islam," reads the draft.
Sign up for the Daily Briefing
Get the latest news and updates straight to your inbox
