Sunnis plead for consent on constitution

ONE day before the deadline for Iraq’s new constitution, Sunni Arab negotiators appealed to the international community to prevent Shi’ites and Kurds from pushing a draft charter through parliament without Sunni consent.

An Iraqi government spokesman suggested that if the factions cannot agree on a draft by tonight, parliament may have to amend the interim constitution yet again to extend the deadline and prevent its dissolution.

The deadline was extended by a week last Monday after negotiators failed to reach agreement on a number of issues.

These included federalism, distribution of oil wealth, power relationships among the provinces and the role of the Shi’ite clerical hierarchy in Najaf.

The 15-member Sunni Arab bloc issued its statement after complaining it was being sidelined by Shi’ites and Kurds, who were cutting deals without them.

“At a time when there are few hours left to announce the draft, we still see no active co-ordination and seriousness to draft the constitution,” it said.

Sunni Arabs said they were only invited to a single meeting with the other negotiators since Monday. That was held on Friday.

The statement urged the US, the UN, and the international community to intervene to prevent a draft constitution moving forward without unanimous agreement.

Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, a Shi’ite, told Forat television 97% of the document had been agreed and would be submitted to parliament by the deadline.

Shi’ites and Kurds have enough seats in parliament to push through a draft without the Sunnis.

As so many Sunni Arabs boycotted the January elections, they won only 17 of the 275 seats in the National Assembly. Sunni Arabs form around 20% of the national population. But they could in theory scuttle the constitution in the October 15 referendum.

Under current rules, the constitution would be defeated if it is opposed by two-thirds of the voters in three of Iraq’s 18 provinces. Sunni Arabs form the majority in at least four.