Iraq's landmark Constitution was adopted by a majority of voters during the country's Oct. 15 referendum, as Sunni Arab opponents failed to muster enough support to defeat it, officials said yesterday.
"Whatever the results of the referendum are ... it is a civilized step that aims to put Iraq on the path of true democracy," Farid Ayar, an official with the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, said before reading the final results at a news conference.
The Constitution is considered another major step in Iraq's democratic reforms, clearing the way for the election of a new, full-term Iraqi parliament on Dec. 15. Such steps are important in any decision about the future withdrawal of US-led forces from Iraq.
However, some fear the Constitution's victory could enrage many Sunni Arabs and increase their support of, or even participation in, attacks by the country's Sunni-led insurgent groups.
The results indicated that Sunnis, who had sharply opposed the draft document, failed to produce the two-thirds "no" vote they would have needed in at least three of Iraq's 18 provinces to defeat it.
Nationwide, the vote was 78.59 percent for ratification and 21.41 percent against, the commission said. The charter required a simple majority, with the provision that if two-thirds of the voters in any three provinces rejected it, the Constitution would be defeated.
The election commission, which had been auditing the referendum results for 10 days, said that Ninevah Province had produced a "no" vote of only 55 percent.
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