Via the NYT: Leaders in Iraq Agree to Change in Constitution

Iraqi political leaders said they had agreed to an important last-minute change in the draft constitution on Tuesday evening in exchange for a promise by some prominent Sunni Arab leaders to give public support to the document in the nationwide referendum on Saturday.

The change would create a panel in the next parliament with the power to propose broad new revisions to the constitution. In effect, the change could give the Sunnis - who were largely shut out of the constitution-writing process - a new chance to help redraft the document after elections in December.

Without getting into the specifics, as they are not wholly clear to me, I take this is as a positive step, and not because it makes American officials happy.

I take this as positive because it show an ongoing willingness of the parties to continue to work within the process to negotiate a solution. It is vital for Iraq to find a political path to a new regime, rather than one dictated by violence.

And I think that is this correct and underscore how creating appropriate institutional mechanism can provide positive incentives for political actors:

The change would also give Sunni Arabs, who largely boycotted elections in January, a significant new motive for participating in politics. The more parliament seats they win in the December elections, the better chance they would have of changing the constitutional provisions they oppose, like allowing for the creation of semiautonomous regions within Iraq.

Certainly increasing Sunni participation is a positive. The more vested all groups are in the process, the higher its probabilities of success.

Now, granted, this could be just kicking the can down the road, but it seems to me that as long as dialog and negotiation remains the centerpieces of the process, then there is a legitimate chance for success.

Some other changes:

Along with the new constitutional panel, the Iraqi leaders agreed to some smaller changes to the charter, several lawmakers said. At least two of them represented concessions to Sunni demands. One is a moderation of the so-called de-Baathfication process to root out former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party from public office, and the other is a clause providing firmer guarantees of Iraq’s unity.