Fuente : World Bank
http://www.worldbank.org

Iraqis Miss Third Deadline On Constitution; Shiites Want To Bypass Parliament

/noticias.info/ Approving Iraq's new constitution may end up out of the hands of lawmakers, after a third deadline for various factions to agree on a draft expired. Sunni negotiators said on Friday that the issue of federalism remained the key sticking point in the process, reports The Associated Press.

Earlier Friday, after the latest deadline to complete the constitutional draft fell by the wayside, parliamentary speaker Hajim al-Hassani announced a one-day extension in talks on the new constitution -- a fourth attempt to win Sunni Arab approval. But he said that if no agreement is reached on the wording of the draft, the document could bypass parliament and be decided in a nationwide referendum on Oct. 15. "Federalism is now the core issue. In light of Kurdish intransigence it makes it difficult to hope for a compromise," said Sadoun Zubaydi, a Sunni member of the drafting committee.

Shiite leaders signaled they had lost patience with protracted negotiating and wanted to refer the draft approved by them and the Kurds last Monday to the electorate. Shortly after the midnight deadline parliamentary speaker al-Hassani said that another day will be needed to try to achieve compromise on the main sticking points. If no deal can be reached, the document would skip parliament and be decided by voters in a referendum. "If we will not be able to reach agreements in the end, this constitution is going to be presented to the Iraqis in an Oct. 15 referendum," he said.

The Wall Street Journal writes that lawmakers now face two options: move forward without the Sunnis, or continue the wrangling to appease Sunni concerns of being marginalized. A political order that lacks Sunni endorsement risks opening the door to further violence. On the other hand, dragging out talks will heighten concerns that Iraqis are too deeply divided in their visions for a new Iraq. Aside from the issue of federalism, negotiations remain stalemated over the formal inclusion of a de-Baathification policy that would disenfranchise those who worked with Saddam Hussein's regime; and the scope of power held by elected officials.

The New York Times writes that a decision by the Shiites to move ahead without the Sunnis would be a considerable blow to efforts by the Bush administration to bring the leaders of the Sunni minority into the negotiations over the constitution. Bush and American officials have expressed hope that bringing the Sunnis into the drafting of the constitution could help coax them into the political mainstream, and ultimately begin to undercut support for the guerrilla insurgency. Under the rules agreed to last year, a two-thirds majority voting against the constitution in any three of Iraq's 18 provinces would send the document down to defeat. The Sunnis are thought to constitute a majority in three provinces. By Thursday night, Sunni leaders were declaring that they had been victimized by the majority Shiites, and they were already making plans to sink the constitution at the polls.

The New York Times meanwhile writes that as Iraq's political leaders met this week to try to resolve the remaining disputes over the draft, ordinary Iraqis everywhere were of various minds about what it all meant. At the more hopeful end of the spectrum of opinion, some Iraqis say they view the latest developments as a step toward creating a full and thriving democracy. But for others, caught in a struggle for survival amid war and doubtful public services, all the wrangling over abstract concepts could just as well be happening on Mars. notas_de_prensa_archivo