Via Reuters: Sunni leaders set demands on Iraq constitution body

An alliance of influential Sunni Muslims in
Iraq said on Wednesday that it would not take part in drafting a constitution unless its community was given a fair number of seats on the committee working on the project.

The Gathering of the Sunni People agreed at a conference to demand that 25 Sunni Arabs be named to the committee, on which 55 members of parliament now sit. The Shi’ite-led government has said it could expand the committee to accommodate more Sunnis — at present only two have seats on the body.

Ok, two is too few, but twenty-five is, shall we say, a tad high. Presumably this is a place to start a negotiation.

Clearly some sort of deal will have to be forged if a constitution is to be ratified:

Sunni Arabs have a potential veto under a rule written in to the U.N.-sponsored interim constitution at the insistence of the Kurdish minority concentrated in the north. The new text can be blocked if voters in three of Iraq’s 18 provinces reject it in a referendum. Sunnis predominate in three provinces.

As such, the likelihood is that the Assembly will have to capitulate to over-representing Sunnis on the committee in question.

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One Response to “Sunnis Demand Greater Role in Iraqi Constitution Writing”

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1. PoliBlog: Politics is the Master Science » A Deal on Representation in Iraq? Says:
   June 9th, 2024 at 11:53 am

   [...] l on Representation in Iraq?
   By Dr. Steven Taylor @ 11:53 am

   Earlier this week I noted that the Sunnis were demanding greater representation on the committee that is currently writing the [...]