BAGHDAD, Aug 29: One of Iraq’s biggest Sunni parties said on Monday that it might back the country’s constitution, but it urged changes to a text agreed by the Shia-dominated parliament.
The Iraqi Islamic Party, seen as moderate Islamist and opposed to violence, said there was still room for negotiation on the constitution.
“We have not signed the constitution and we still have the time starting from now until the referendum comes,” party spokesman Tareq al Hashemi told a news conference. “We might say yes to the constitution if the disputed points are resolved.”
The text read to parliament failed to overcome objections by Sunnis, who lost their political dominance with the fall of President Saddam Hussein, despite US efforts to broker a compromise between Iraq’s divided ethnic and religious groups.
Hundreds of people marched in Saddam Hussein’s home town of Tikrit to protest against the constitution, witnesses said.
They carried photographs of Saddam and held up banners saying: “No to the Zionist-American-Iranian constitution.”
Some Iraqis say the Shia-led government is too close to Iran.
The BBC quoted Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa as describing the Iraqi draft constitution as ‘dangerous’.
The United States and Britain, who see approval of a constitution as key to defusing the resistance, welcomed the draft, hailing it as a victory for democracy over extremism.
SUNNI OPPOSITION: Rejection in the three of Iraq’s 18 provinces dominated by Sunnis would be enough to torpedo the constitution under current referendum rules.
President Jalal Talabani urged Iraqis to vote ‘Yes’ in the referendum, due by Oct 15, but acknowledged that rejection by Sunni voters was a possibility.
“If they (Sunni voters) do participate, then the constitution will (probably) fail and new elections will have to take place to create a new drafting committee to come up with a new constitution,” he told Al Arabiya television.
A Sunni delegate on the drafting committee said all his colleagues on the panel objected to the draft.
“We have not agreed on this constitution. We have objections which are the same as we had from day one,” Hussein al Falluji, the Sunni delegate, said.
“If there is no forging of the results, I believe the people will say ‘No’ to the ‘American’ constitution,” he said.
OPPOSITION, RESERVATIONS: Although Iraq’s parliament adjourned without a vote, delegates in the Shia- and Kurdish-dominated assembly said the draft’s reading in parliament signified its acceptance.
“We tried hard to include everybody’s demands, but this could not be done. Some people are still opposed to some points,” said Parliament Speaker Hajim al Hassani.
“But now we should think of this country and its unity. Whoever wants to change something, then the referendum is the final chance. Iraqis should prepare themselves for elections.”
Iraq will hold elections in December after the referendum.
The text read in parliament suggested limited concessions to the Sunnis.
Retreating from earlier drafts referring to Saddam Hussein’s political party, it omitted the phrase ‘Baath party’ and instead banned ‘the Saddamist Baath and its symbols’.
Sunnis had pressed for the removal of any clauses in the draft that bar party members from public life.
Sunnis, who largely shunned a January election, giving them little voice in the present interim parliament, are now mobilizing in strength for the referendum and the election.
Another power struggle in Iraq between powerful Shia factions could also complicate efforts to stabilize the country as it heads towards the referendum, officials said.
Clashes that erupted last week between supporters of a powerful Shia party in the governing coalition and militiamen loyal to maverick Shia leader Moqtada Sadr brought into public view long-standing fault lines in Iraqi politics.
“What happened in Najaf is just the tip of the iceberg, it could happen again at any time and for any reason,” said a senior Iraqi politician who is not a Shia. —Reuters