LAT: Iraqi Constitution Panel Fails to Deliver a Draft

[DeepModem Mom]

Iraqi Constitution Panel Fails to Deliver a Draft
Politicians as well as U.S. and U.N. envoys meet into the night in effort to resolve such issues as role of Islamic law and divvying of oil revenue.

By Borzou Daragahi and Alissa J. Rubin, Times Staff Writers


BAGHDAD — Iraq's political heavyweights, struggling to overcome deep differences over oil and Islam, failed to agree on a draft constitution Sunday despite the expectations of U.S. and Iraqi officials.

The failure surprised legislators of the 275-member transitional National Assembly who had gathered to examine, discuss and vote on a proposed charter, which President Jalal Talabani had announced would be delivered by Sunday.

Instead, Talabani, a leader of Iraq's Kurds, along with representatives of the majority Shiites, some Sunni Arab politicians, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.N. envoy Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, met throughout the day and late into the night in an attempt to resolve several contentious issues, such as whether provinces would have the ability to impose Islamic law on citizens and how the country's oil wealth would be distributed.

"Without solving these two points we cannot say this draft is ready, and there will not be a constitution," said Rosh Shawais, the country's Kurdish deputy prime minister. "The negotiations were supposed to finish , but it take until the end of the month."

Nevertheless, some Iraqi officials and Khalilzad said they were optimistic that a version of a constitution would be submitted to legislators for approval tonight at an extraordinary 6 p.m. meeting of the National Assembly....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq15aug15,0,3119575.story?coll=la-home-world

[zanne]

1. Conflicting information

On Saturday, I heard from CNN that if the consitution was not written by the 15th, their Parliament would have to be dissolved and a new election would have to take place. Today, I'm hearing that all that would happen would be a delay of a few weeks. Anybody know the truth about this situation?

[bemildred]

2. You do understand they are making this up as they go along? nt

[TroglodyteScholar]

5. Well said...

It's democracy, republican style...

[leftchick]

12. as usual you are on target bemildred

and in your usual forthright manner. :hi:

[bearfan454]

16. Just like here too, huh ? n/t

[Teaser]

3. The interim constitution requires this but

if they do not make the deadline the plan is simply to emend the interim constitution to push back the deadline.

[jody]

4. The relevant Iraqi law is:

LAW OF ADMINISTRATION FOR THE STATE OF IRAQ FOR THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD 8 March 2004

QUOTE
Article 60.
The National Assembly shall write a draft of the permanent constitution of Iraq. This Assembly shall carry out this responsibility in part by encouraging debate on the constitution through regular general public meetings in all parts of Iraq and through the media, and receiving proposals from the citizens of Iraq as it writes the constitution.
Article 61.
(A) The National Assembly shall write the draft of the permanent constitution by no later than 15 August 2005.
(B) The draft permanent constitution shall be presented to the Iraqi people for approval in a general referendum to be held no later than 15 October 2005. In the period leading up to the referendum, the draft constitution shall be published and widely distributed to encourage a public debate about it among the people.
(C) 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.
(D) If the permanent constitution is approved in the referendum, elections for a permanent government shall be held no later than 15 December 2005 and the new government shall assume office no later than 31 December 2005.
(E) If the referendum rejects the draft permanent constitution, the National Assembly shall be dissolved. Elections for a new National Assembly shall be held no later than 15 December 2005. The new National Assembly and new Iraqi Transitional Government shall then assume office no later than 31 December 2005, and shall continue to operate under this Law, except that the final deadlines for preparing a new draft may be changed to make it possible to draft a permanent constitution within a period not to exceed one year. The new National Assembly shall be entrusted with writing another draft permanent constitution.
(F) If necessary, the president of the National Assembly, with the agreement of a majority of the members’ votes, may certify to the Presidency Council no later than 1 August 2005 that there is a need for additional time to complete the writing of the draft constitution. The Presidency Council shall then extend the deadline for writing the draft constitution for only six months. This deadline may not be extended again.
(G) If the National Assembly does not complete writing the draft permanent constitution by 15 August 2005 and does not request extension of the deadline in Article 61(F) above, the provisions of Article 61(E), above, shall be applied.
UNQUOTE

[Barrett808]

11. Apparently, (G) requires that the National Assembly must be dissolved

Since the deadline for extension was passed on 1 August 2005.

[jody]

14. I agree, of course Bush has never been concerned about laws. n/t

[enigma000]

15. Just over 3 hours to go

Iraqi lawmakers have until midnight (4 p.m. EDT) to reach an agreement.

[gratuitous]

6. Well, that's it, the terrorists have won

And it's all the Iraqis' fault.

[Roland99]

7. No, it's our fault for undermining troop morale

[gratuitous]

8. Well, I'm sure there's just enough blame to go around

To pick up everyone in the world except for our faultless Republican overlords.

[Roland99]

9. Oh, of course. They have done and can do no wrong.

[Kagemusha]

10. It's not clear that they *can* amend the constitution but,

if 2/3rds of parliament agree to do so then they'll challenge anyone who says otherwise...

And 2/3rds will be required for a delay.

[enigma000]

13. They can amend

As per previous link:

http://www.cpa-iraq.org/government/TAL.htmlArticle 3.

(A) This Law is the Supreme Law of the land and shall be binding in all parts of Iraq without exception. No amendment to this Law may be made except by a three-fourths majority of the members of the National Assembly and the unanimous approval of the Presidency Council. Likewise, no amendment may be made that could abridge in any way the rights of the Iraqi people cited in Chapter Two; extend the transitional period beyond the timeframe cited in this Law; delay the holding of elections to a new assembly; reduce the powers of the regions or governorates; or affect Islam, or any other religions or sects and their rites.

Three-fourths majority could amend the TAL to give the Iraqi officials more time. If they fail to approve the draft constitution or give themselves more time by midnight Iraq time the government falls. New election & more purple fingers.

[The_Casual_Observer]

17. What possible difference does any of this make?

The whole thing is going to end in bloodshed & chaos anyway.

[Barrett808]

18. As far as the insurgency is concerned, this is all meaningless twaddle

Ink on paper.

[Jack Rabbit]

19. Latest from The New York Times

From The New York Times
Dated Monday August 15

Iraqis Delay Meeting to Submit Charter as Deadlock Continues
By Dexter Filkins

Baghdad -- Iraqi leaders postponed by several hours today a special session to submit a draft constitution to the National Assembly, giving themselves more time to work on a document that has been plagued by deadlocks over major issues that include federalism and the role of Islam. While they delayed the special session of the National Assembly about four hours, they expected to submit the document later tonight, according to Iraqi leaders involved in the process. However, it is still unclear whether that will give the assembly time to debate it or vote on it by the end of today.

The outstanding hurdles to agreement on the draft had raised the possibility that the Iraqi leaders would fail to meet today's deadline and push the country toward a new political crisis. But a National Assembly member, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, said today that specific solutions to the more difficult issues, like federalism and the status of the city of Kirkuk, would be put off for another day . . . .

Asked about the challenges of bringing the Sunni minority on board, Mr. Rubaie said they were making an effort to obtain the best deal possible.

With several questions unresolved, Shiite leaders had said they were considering asking the National Assembly to approve the document without the agreement of the country's Sunni leaders. Such a move would probably provoke the Sunnis, whose participation in the political process is seen as crucial in the effort to marginalize the Sunni-dominated guerrilla insurgency.

Read more.

Regardless of what is or isn't in this document, it would be a big, big mistake to try to give it a pass without the consent of the Sunnis.

Whether they're right or wrong, they can break this thing.

[DeepModem Mom]

20. Thanks, Jack! nt