How much Sunni input does Iraq’s constitution need?
By Nafee Abdel Jabbar
BAGHDAD: Political leaders across Iraq agree that minority Sunni Arabs must have a hand in drafting the country’s new post-Saddam Hussein constitution, but opinions differ on the level of their participation. Shia leaders say they cannot govern Iraq without the Sunnis despite having won 146 of the parliament’s 275 seats in the January election that most Sunnis snubbed.
Sunnis held privileged positions under Saddam’s iron-fisted regime despite making up barely 20 per cent of the population, and they remain crucial to drafting such a fundamental document as the constitution.
Time is nonetheless running out, as a final version of the charter is due by August 15 although the committee now working on the document has the option of announcing a one-off six-month delay by August 1.
After much hesitation, Sunnis proposed on Wednesday that 25 members of their community join the constitution committee, currently made up of 55 elected lawmakers including two Sunni representatives.
“The ball is now in the parliament’s court,” Adnan Dulaimi, leader of the Sunni waqf (religious endowment), told AFP.
But an aide to committee president Humam Hammudi, a member of the powerful Shia Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), said: “The question (of Sunni representatives) has not yet been discussed.
Dulaimi welcomed a statement by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who on Thursday backed the Sunni demands for 25 seats, while acknowledging that the final decision was not Talabani’s to make.
Dulaimi said the addition of the Sunni members would further “national unity, participation by all, and in the final analysis stability in Iraq”.
Ending Sunni isolation is considered key not only by the government in Baghdad but also by the administration of US President George W. Bush to bringing an end to the bloody acts of terror that have rocked Iraq.
But the demand for such a strong increase in representation on the committee does not sit well with other Iraqi political groups, particularly certain Shia factions.
Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari and Shia consititution committee members have not yet accepted the proposal, and a Shia cleric has urged Sunnis to temper their demands.
“There are different opinions, one opinion calls for adding 14 personalities to the 55,” Jaafari said on Thursday.
“Another opinion favours expanding this number. We support the decision of the national assembly, which is the legitimate body to deal with this.”
In Najaf, the Shia holy city south of Baghdad, SCIRI figure Sheikh Sadreddin Kubbanji referred to the Sunni’s position, saying: “I hope this demand will not prevent them from participating.
“It is possible to find a solution while keeping the nation’s general interest in mind.”—AFP
