Following meetings with elected Iraqi leaders, a senior US diplomat says that the country’s permanent constitution will most likely be closely based on the provisional document put in place early last year by US administrators.
Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, who made a one-day visit to Baghdad on Thursday, said his impression was of broad agreement among several factions that will be involved in constitutional discussions on using the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) as the starting point for debate.
“There’s a general sense with everyone I’ve talked to about using the TAL… as a cornerstone,” Mr Zoellick said.
The TAL – itself a quasi-constitution – runs a gamut of issues, from the status of women and minorities to the role of Islam in the state. It also provides a template for further steps in Iraq’s political reconstruction.
Mr Zoellick noted, however, that parliament as a whole, rather than the government, is responsible for coming up with a draft constitution over the next few months.
Under the TAL, a parliamentary committee with voting memberships awarded proportionally to each of the assembly’s largely ethnic or sectarian blocs is charged with drafting a constitution by August 15.
This could mean yet another percieved slight for Sunni Arabs, the largely disaffected community that is seen as the main base of support for the anti-government insurgency.
“Right now what we have to do is expand the participation of the group, so you have an inclusive group of people,” Mr Zoellick said.
Ensuring paricipation by the Sunni community is especially important, he added.
Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice, during a stop in Iraq earlier this week, praised Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari for having put together an inclusive cabinet, but added that the political process also must remain inclusive.
Iraq’s once-ascendant Sunni Arabs, believed to comprise roughly 15 per cent of the population, are drastically underrepresented in the 275-seat National Assembly following a failed boycott campaign aimed at derailing January 30 elections.
Amid anger over the ongoing US troop presence, many Sunnis appeared to support the boycott – called for mainly by influential clerics – out of genuine conviction, rather than fear of insurgent reprisals. Some of them, however, now admit that they made a mistake by opting out of democratic elections.
Mr Jaafari says additional Sunni members will be permitted to take part in constitutional talks, but without voting rights. Earlier this week, he said the government would do what it could to ensure adequate Sunni representation, but would not compromise parliamentary democracy.”
Mr Zoellick said that key points of the TAL were still certain to arouse lively debate.
Federalism, for instance, is a key issue for Kurds, who already enjoy regional autonomy in the north. But federalism might also hold some newfound appeal for Sunni Arabs, concentrated in central and western Iraq, Mr Zoellick said.
Once completed by the parliamentary committee, the draft constitution will be subject to a popular referendum, supposedly before the transitional government faces a new round of elections.
But the TAL also permits an extension of the drafting phase by up to six months. Mr Zoellick said he had urged the Iraqi leaders to avoid using this escape clause if possible. “I’ve urged them to hold to the deadline,” he said.
