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Iraqi Sunnis Highlight Charter "Forgery"
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"We
will join forces and turn out in droves to vote down the draft
constitution no matter how hard they are pressed or intimidated," said
Dulaimi.
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By
Mazen Ghazi, IOL Correspondent
BAGHDAD,
October 4, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Iraqi Sunni leaders and
politicians hit out Tuesday, October 4, at what they called a
"brazen forgery" after the Shiite-Kurdish dominated
parliament amended the interim law to make it far simpler for the
draft constitution to pass than for it to be defeated by Sunni
opponents in the October 15 referendum.
"This
is forgery of the political will of the Iraqi people in such a
critical juncture in their history," Iyad Al-Samarrai, a leading
member of the Sunni Islamic Party, told IslamOnline.net.
He
lambasted what he called "double-standards" by the Shiites
and the Kurds, who dominate almost three quarters of parliament, in
explaining the articles of the interim law.
"The
amendment means that the draft constitution can be passed by a simple
majority of 51 percent of the voters," he said, noting that the
Shiites and Kurds were playing with words when they use
"voters" and "registered voters."
The
change specifies that the text can only be rejected by two-thirds of
"registered voters," as opposed to the prior version which
said two-thirds of "voters" in any three provinces could
vote down the document.
According
to Article 61C of the Transitional Administrative Law, "The
general referendum will be successful and the draft constitution
ratified if a majority of the voters in Iraq approve and if two-thirds
of the voters in three or more governorates do not reject it."
Sunni
Arabs form a majority in Al-Anbar, Nineveh and Salahudin provinces.
The
text adopted by parliament on Sunday, October 2, reads: "The word
'voter' in the first part of Article 61C means registered voters who
have cast a ballot, and in the second part means registered
voters," said the text adopted by parliament.
Big
Blow
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A sample of the referendum application written in Arabic and Kurdish.
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Samarrai
called the amendment a big blow to democracy in Iraq.
"Such
ploys and tricks will not break the staunch will of the Sunnis, who
are resolved to register in numbers to vote down the charter," he
said.
Adnan
Al-Dulaimi, ex-chief of the Sunni Waqfs, said the amendment will only
make Sunnis stronger.
"We
will join forces and turn out in droves to vote down the draft
constitution no matter how hard they are pressed or intimidated,"
he said.
Numerous
Sunni Arab political and religious leaders have already called for a
"no" vote to the constitution basically because they believe
that its federalist provisions will divide the country.
Sunnis
further charge that the latest onslaughts by US-backed Iraqi troops on
Sunni towns and cities under the pretext of fighting
"insurgency" are aimed at blocking Sunni registration to
vote in mid October.
US
Marines launched their biggest offensive so far this year against
"insurgents" in western Iraq.
"Playing
With Fire"
Some
Kurds have also stricken the discordant note.
"It's
unfair and I didn't vote for it," Mahmoud Othman, an independent
Kurdish member of parliament, told Reuters. "It's a double
standard and it shouldn't have happened."
Joost
Hiltermann, an Iraq expert with the International Crisis Group,
described the decision as a clear example of what happens when the
majority decides its rules in a certain country.
"Obviously
they want to win," he said of the Shiites and Kurds, who tailored
parts of the constitution to suit themselves, according to pundits.
"But
to play by this kind of majoritarian rule is very dangerous, it's
playing with fire," he told Reuters from Amman.
"They
are excluding one community to make it look as if they have
agreement."
Other
analysts also conceded that there was unfairness in parliament's
decision, but said it just went to show how essential it was that the
constitution was approved.
"If
this referendum is rejected, it's an explicit rejection of the whole
political process ... It cannot be allowed to fail," said Martin
Navias, a research associate at the centre for defense studies at
King's College London.
A
leading Brussels-based think-tank also warned last week that the
rushed drafting of the constitution has deepened sectarian rifts and
was likely to fuel violence in the country.
The
International Crisis Group (ICG) said that Iraq "appears to be
heading toward de facto partition and full-scale civil war",
unless Washington makes "a determined effort to broker a true
compromise between Shiites, Kurds and Sunni Arabs."
Arab
League Secretary General Amr Moussa is expected to visit Iraq as soon
as possible to prepare for a reconciliation conference grouping
the country’s religious and ethnic mosaic.
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