Sunnis’ objections ignored
BAGHDAD, August 29 – The final word hasn’t been said yet but so far the Iraqi constitutional draft is progressing, albeit a bit delayed, still on schedule for the referendum. The Sunnis have many objections to this draft but after a few concessions from the Shiites, which were rejected, the National Assembly today approved the entire draft. This is not strange since the majority of the National Assembly consists of Kurds and Shiites, because the Sunnis boycotted the elections earlier this year they have no representation in the NA.
The Shiites especially have been somewhat reluctant to give the Sunnis any say at all. The Sunnis were always the dominating culture in Iraq under Hussein’s charge although the make up only 20% of the total population. The Shiites have always been repressed and feel that they deserve more than the Sunnis now because of this. Meanwhile the Sunnis are already urging everyone to vote at the referendum this time so they can reject the constitutional draft.
Whether this will succeed is another thing, the Sunnis do not have a majority when voting but perhaps they can make the difference. Several points on which the Sunnis disagreed were articles restricting former Baath-members from public positions and the Arab nature of the country.
