Iraq's Constitutional Compromise: This Election Won't Count

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bountyhunter

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In an attempt to appease the Sunnis who hold majority in four of the 18 provinces (and hold the power to reject the new constitution by voting it down in any three provinces) a "compromise" has been tabled which will basically make the first constitution null and void two months after it is passed:

Wednesday's agreement, the Iraqi Islamic Party spokesman said, would make the constitution temporary -- if voters approve it.

Then, following general elections on December 15, a committee of Iraqi National Assembly members would re-evaluate the approved constitution.

Within two months after that, a new constitution would have to be written, and by the end of that period -- roughly six months after the general elections -- a new referendum would take place.
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And the whole process simply repeats itself.



http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/10/12/iraq.main/index.html
 
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People must remember that when our country first formed, it took about 10 years to form a solid constitution and government. The articles of confederation was a failure.
 
It's probably being done to scam more money from the process. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
I don't think its a scam so much as a feeble attempt at a power grab. The sunni's were the ones in charge prior to the invasion, and they will do anything to keep the country in turmoil until they can figure a way to be in charge once again.
 
Well, if the new constitution goes into effect and the Sunnis dont feel like they are being victimized during those two months then i would expect it to be much easier to get them on board for the real deal. Seems like a good idea to me. We are talking about people who dont even have a cultural concept of self-rule. Even we had an idea of what a government *should* be and it took us ten years to get something that worked.
 
What this actually does is allow them to make ammendments to the constitution after two months, where previously it had to be in place for 8 years before any ammendment could be made.

We can make ammendments to ours at any time, and I still think it counts.
 
What this actually does is allow them to make ammendments to the constitution after two months,
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No, the reports I read say what the article says:
Within two months after that, a new constitution would have to be written,
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It doesn't say they will have the option to customize it, the reports say it has to be re-written.
 
It doesn't say they will have the option to customize it, the reports say it has to be re-written.
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I'm sure the Iraqis know how to use copy and paste for any sections they don't wish to change.
 
Sir, I believe you miss the entire point which is contained in the title of this thread:

This Election Won't Count
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The new constitution is supposed to be the "framing document" for the new country (s) which will be formed. If it is a given that it must be re-written, then it has no actual validity. It is either their constitution or it isn't. In effect, the compromise they reached is:

We can't get agreement to pass this thing, so just vote for it and we will fix it later.

The point is, that doesn't get them any farther down the raod than they are right now: fighting over what the constitution must say with no hope of agreement on non-negotiable items like federalism and complete autonomy for the individual "states" within the country which will be "Kurdistan", "Shiiteistan", and "Sunnistan"..... the problem is the land designated for "Sunnistan" doesn't have any oil..... so they will be frozen out of Iraq's wealth.
 
The Sunnis don't have oil on their land. They DO however have people with a higher education level. The difference is enough that the combined country actually needs to Sunnis involved.

What this latest agreement does is makes sure there will be continued discussion, argument, etc. over the constitution.

While annoying, better that than a shooting war breaks out...
 
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