Iraqis have different opinions about interim constitution

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Iraqis have different opinions about interim constitution

Iraqis have had different opinions about the newly-signed interim constitution and hoped it could help establishing a stable society building a democratic and occupation-free Iraq.

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Iraqis have had different opinions about the newly-signed interim constitution and hoped it could help establishing a stable society building a democratic and occupation-free Iraq.

The days that preceded the signing of the interim constitution on Monday showed that every party in the Iraqi Interim Governing Council (IGC) and outside seeks gains even if these were on the account of others, leading to postponing the signing date from Feb.28 to March 8.

In such a confused situation, the American officials in Baghdad managed to hide their dissatisfaction of what happened and referredit to practicing the democracy new to Iraqis, which allows differences and conducting more discussions to reach an agreement.

Obviously, the signing of the interim constitution does not meanthat the political paths were cleared without any obstacles.

"It is a legal context made by people who were not elected, which is a problem in itself," said IGC member Ahmed Al Chalabi.

There are other groups in Iraq who do not seem very optimistic about the signing of the constitution.

Saad Al Deen Arklage, the vice president of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, criticized the new text for it describes the Turkmen as a "minority," while they are a "major ethnic group in Iraq."

A lot of Iraqis do not feel that they are really represented by the present political leaders chose by the occupation forces.

There is still much work to do after the signing of the constitution to avoid the obstacles which might appear in bad security conditions that has no sign of improvement now.

The conservatives of the Shiite group in the IGC almost blew away the constitution before their leaders returned. Finally, all members of the IGC, who represents various groups and parties participated the ceremony and signed the constitution without any amendments.

Nevertheless, Shiites members in the ICG explained their reservation and hoped some articles of the constitution will be amended, pointing out this is an interim constitution and will not be legitimate without holding referendum.

Great Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, the prominent Shiite leader alsoannounced his reservation to the interim constitution, saying that it would be an obstacle on the way to establishing a permanent constitution, as laws would gain legitimacy under the approval of an elected national assembly.

The most obvious controversial article is that the draft of the permanent constitution would not be refused by at least two thirds of the voters in three governorates.

Politicians explained that refusal means that the national assembly would be dissolved and a new one would be elected to writea new draft for the constitution, which may led to endless circles,hindering the proposed mechanisms and keeping the country under an interim constitution.

Source: Xinhua

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