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Iraq draft interim constitution sparks critical debate

A draft interim constitution scheduled to go into effect this month has sparked a political debate on issues critical to Iraq's future -- Kurdish autonomy and the role of Islam.

The debate is pitting Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish politicians against one another at a time when the US political blueprint for Iraq is already on hold due to differences with the Shiite clergy over early elections.

A committee set up by Iraq's Governing Council has completed drafting the document, which is scheduled to take effect on Feb. 28, until a permanent constitution is adopted next year. But the council was not expected to start debating the document in its entirety until Sunday or Monday, according to sources close to the process and familiar with the draft.

agreement

Under an agreement reached on Nov. 15 between the council and the U.S.-led coalition, adopting the interim constitution is a first step in a two-year political blueprint that will have a transitional legislature in place by the end of May, an unelected but sovereign government a month later and allow Iraqis to vote in a general election by the end of 2005.

Governing Council member Adnan Pachachi, a Sunni Muslim politician who heads the committee that drafted the document, has said he expects the document to be adopted by the council by mid-February, allowing Iraqis a two-week period to familiarize themselves with its details.

"There will be an intensive public debate and views expressed in those discussions will be considered before the final version is adopted," said Pachachi, who held the council's one-month, rotating presidency in January.

ratify document

However, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, an influential Shiite cleric demanding an early vote, has said that an elected legislature must ratify the document before it goes into effect.

His demand, together with the time needed for the UN experts to investigate the feasibility of an early vote and present their findings, could mean that the Feb. 28 deadline may be put back by a week or two, according to the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.

basic law

Part of the basic law deals with the mechanisms involved in forming the proposed 250-seat legislature and the provisional government to take office by July 1 -- the primary focus of the UN experts and the subject of the impasse between the coalition and al-Sistani.

The Nov. 15 agreement provides for the legislature to be selected from regional caucuses. Al-Sistani wants the legislature to be elected in a direct vote.

It also provides guidelines for the interim constitution, including guarantees for the freedom of speech, equality of all Iraqis, federalism, independence of the judiciary and civilian control over the army.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced Tuesday that he will soon dispatch a team of UN experts to Iraq to assess whether an early vote is possible. Washington believes lengthy preparations are needed before a fair and credible election can be held, but asked Annan for the UN to help because it doesn't want to alienate the Shiite majority.

Pachachi, who leads Sunni opposition to an early vote, has said he hoped that 25 percent, and maybe as many as 40 percent, of the proposed 250-seat transitional legislature would be set aside for women and spoke vaguely of a three-member presidency chosen by the assembly.

Presidency

The presidency, presumably comprising a Shiite, a Sunni and a Kurd, will name a Cabinet whose members must be confirmed by the legislators before taking office, he said.

The draft states that Islam is the official religion of Iraq and cites Islamic Sharia laws as a primary source of legislation. This already has been contested by council members affiliated with religious parties and who want Sharia to be the "sole" basis of laws.

The dispute over the role of Islam cuts to the heart of politics in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq where Shiite clerics and, to a much lesser extent, their Sunni counterparts play a key role. Al-Sistani's demands, for example, already has forced Washington to drop one political plan for Iraq. His demand for early elections looks set to force Washington's hand again.

abandoned

The draft constitution replaced one presented in December by the five Kurdish members of the 25-seat Governing Council.

It was later abandoned in favor of a draft put forward by Pachachi's aides. The sources said the earlier draft contained what others on the council saw as excessive guarantees to protect Kurdish autonomy.

Kurdish council members argue that leaving the question of autonomy, which has been in force under US protection since 1991, to be settled in the permanent constitution is an evasive tactic designed to undermine the de facto independence they have enjoyed for close to 13 years.

"I say `yes' to federalism, but only on geographical basis," said Sunni council member Samir Shakir Mahmoud. "Federalism based on ethnicity takes us down a slippery road."
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