BAGHDAD, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The Iraqi parliament has called off a controversial change to its fledgling constitution that was opposed by the United States and United Nations.
The altered rules announced Tuesday would have made it much harder for minority Sunni opponents of the draft constitution to reject it, the BBC said Wednesday.
The reversal was announced by the country's National Assembly, which is dominated by Kurds and Shiites. Sunnis, who boycotted elections and find themselves in a minority status as a result, are campaigning against the charter, The Independent reported.
After pressure by U.S. and U.N. legal officials, the situation reverts to where the constitution could be rejected if two-thirds of those polled voted "no" in three provinces. Sunni leaders claim they would be able to achieve this. . . .
----- Original Message -----From: Jake STo: virusSent: 10/4/2005 10:18:50 AMSubject: virus: More political failures in the new Iraq.Iraqis have taken some lessons from Republicans. If you can win, then rig the system so you can't lose. They are off to a great start, building American-style corruption into their system from the ground up. Perhaps they are learning more from the US than we intended. Behind closed doors the Kurds and the Shiites have conspired to rig the constitutional referendum against the Sunnis . . .Rules on Iraqi constitution revisedfull story at:excerpt:"Under the new rules, the constitution will fail only if two-thirds of all registered voters - rather than two-thirds of all those actually casting ballots - reject it in at least three of the 18 provinces.
The change, adopted during an unannounced vote in parliament Sunday afternoon, effectively raises the bar for those who oppose the constitution. Given that fewer than 60 percent of registered Iraqis voted in the January elections, the chances that two-thirds will both show up at the polls and vote against the document in three provinces would appear to be close to nil."
Jake S
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