by Dexter Filkins; The New York Times, March 6, 2004
Iraqi Shiites, in a Blow to U.S., Fail to Sign Temporary Charter
The article in the temporary constitution now in dispute deals with the ratification of the permanent constitution, which is supposed to be written sometime next year.
According to language agreed on this week, the permanent constitution would be written by a popularly elected national assembly and put to voters in a nationwide referendum. If a majority of Iraqis approved the document, then it would be permanent. But there is an additional provision that if two-thirds of the voters in 3 of the nation’s 18 governorates, or provinces, reject it, the constitution will fail.
The language was inserted in large part to reassure the Kurds, who are fearful of losing control of their affairs to the Shiite majority.
BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 5 — A group of Shiite leaders refused to sign Iraq’s temporary constitution on Friday unless changes were made that would strengthen Shiite power, throwing the political process here into disarray and posing a major embarrassment for American officials.
Five Shiite leaders said they had decided to back out of the agreement reached earlier this week after meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country’s most powerful religious leader. They said they wanted to strike from the temporary constitution a provision that would allow a relatively small minority of the country’s voters to block the passage of a permanent constitution, which is to be written next year.
After nearly 12 hours of negotiations on Friday, the other Iraqi leaders rejected the changes and quit for the night. That set the stage for a showdown this weekend, when the Shiite leaders will probably tell Ayatollah Sistani that the rest of the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council, including some of its other Shiite members, refused to budge. The council is scheduled to reconvene on Monday.
Ayatollah Sistani commands the allegiance of millions of Iraqis, and some members of the Governing Council said they were concerned that without his consent, no constitution would work.
“If we don’t pass this constitution, it will be a big disappointment,” said Mahmood Otham, a Kurdish member of the Governing Council. “But we had an agreement, and these people are trying to reopen everything. It’s unacceptable.”
The impasse was a blow to American officials, who had erected a stage and invited television cameras from all over the world to witness an elaborate signing ceremony for the new constitution. The document, with its protections for free speech, assembly and religious practice, had been hailed as a measure of how far the American enterprise in Iraq had come.
The disputed provision was inserted to help gain the support of the Kurds, who have been pressing to maintain the large measure of autonomy they gained in northern Iraq over the last 13 years.
Kurdish leaders reacted strongly to the Shiite demands, saying they suspected that the Shiites intended to strip the Kurds of their autonomy and then secure the support of a slim majority of the country’s voters for the new constitution.
Iraqi officials said the negotiations on Friday became extraordinarily bitter, with some Kurdish members accusing the Shiites of harboring a greater loyalty to Iran, the Shiite-majority country next door that supported the Shiites in their struggle against Saddam Hussein.
“These five guys showed tonight that they are Iranians, not Iraqis, and that Sistani is an Iranian,” a Kurdish official said. “They say they support all Iraqis, but they are forcing all of us to accept Shiite domination.”
Despite repeated avowals that he would remain above the push and pull of politics and that he would keep Islam separate from the state, Ayatollah Sistani demonstrated anew his willingness to involve himself in political debates. But this appears to be the first time that he has interceded directly on behalf of the Shiite majority. His earlier calls for direct elections were a more indirect way to flex Shiite political power.
While there has been no recent census in Iraq, the Shiites are thought to constitute a majority in the country. They are clearly eager to exercise the political power that flows from majority status — an ambition that historically has always been frustrated.
No statements were issued Friday night from Ayatollah Sistani’s office in Najaf. But the Shiite leaders who made the new demands acknowledged his influence. Hamid al-Bayati, a leader of one of the Shiite parties that rejected the constitution, said the ayatollah had reviewed every draft of the document over the last several weeks.
“We have some concerns about some of the articles in the constitution,” said Mr. Bayati, a leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. “The issues arose following meetings with Sistani.”
The temporary constitution, which is to serve as the framework for the Iraqi state until nationwide elections can be held this year or next, was supposed to have been signed two days ago. But the signing was delayed after terrorist attacks on Tuesday killed more than 180 people.
Iraqi and American officials had overcome several obstacles to reach agreement on the document, including the role of Islam, the role of women and self-rule by the Kurds.
Iraqi and American officials said Friday that the main provisions, agreed to after all-night bargaining sessions earlier this week, were not in dispute. Nonetheless, they said the new objections were serious enough to threaten the constitution.
The article in the temporary constitution now in dispute deals with the ratification of the permanent constitution, which is supposed to be written sometime next year.
According to language agreed on this week, the permanent constitution would be written by a popularly elected national assembly and put to voters in a nationwide referendum. If a majority of Iraqis approved the document, then it would be permanent. But there is an additional provision that if two-thirds of the voters in 3 of the nation’s 18 governorates, or provinces, reject it, the constitution will fail.
The language was inserted in large part to reassure the Kurds, who are fearful of losing control of their affairs to the Shiite majority.
The five Shiite leaders, who represent the most powerful Shiite parties, want to delete that language and allow the permanent constitution to succeed or fail on a simple majority vote. According to several Iraqi officials, the five Shiite leaders are Ahmed Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution of Iraq, Ibrahim Jafari of the Dawa Party, and two independent members, Mowaffak al-Rubaie and Muhammad Bahr ul-Uloom.
While the five Shiite leaders succeeded in blocking the signing of the constitution, it was unclear if they could persuade enough of their colleagues to go along with the changes. Thirteen of the 25 members of the Governing Council are Shiites.
Iraqi and American officials said the demands had been rejected by an overwhelming majority of the council members, including many Shiites.
“This is a disgrace,” said Raja Kuzai, a Shiite member of the council. “This agreement was finished. We have been waiting here all day. They tried to meet with me, but I refused.”
The council members went home near midnight and scheduled a new signing ceremony for Monday. Iraqi leaders said they hoped that the five Shiite leaders could persuade Ayatollah Sistani to back down.
By the time the negotiations finally came to a halt, the area around the stage where the signing of the constitution was to have taken place was largely empty.
Iraqi officials and reporters filed past the signing desk, an antique used by King Faisal, the British-installed monarch whose dynasty in Iraq collapsed in 1958.
Arrayed on the desk were 25 blue and gold pens, untouched.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/06/international/middleeast/06IRAQ.html
Originally published March 7, 2004