Weather | Traffic | Surf | Maps | Webcam

 »Next Story»
 Local News
 Sunday Currents
 The Last Week
 Weekly Sections
Subscribe to the UT

The San Diego Union-Tribune

Iraqis offered a remarkable constitution

September 4, 2005

Reading the press clips on Iraq's new draft constitution, you might assume it has failed already. First it was billed as a charter for an Islamic theocratic state devoid of rights for women. Then it was dubbed a disaster because Iraq's minority Sunnis, wellspring of the insurgency, wouldn't endorse it. Now it's described as a political cripple vulnerable to a Sunni veto in Iraq's national referendum scheduled for Oct. 15.

But look closer. In fact, this is a remarkable document full of hope for a liberated Iraq. In an Arab world of despots and dictatorships, Iraq now has a draft constitution that is, in fact, admirably democratic. It's also the best deal the Sunnis have any right to expect, and likely an even bet to pass when Iraqis vote in October.

No, it doesn't create a theocratic state governed by the Koran and cast in the image of Iran's ruling mullahs. The constitution recognizes Islam as a, not the, basis for Iraqi law. But it also declares that no law can contradict the principles of democracy or the rights and basic freedoms proclaimed in the constitution.

No, it doesn't disenfranchise women. Quite the contrary. The constitution guarantees women equal rights, including the right to vote and run for political office, prohibits discrimination based on gender and makes domestic violence a crime.

No, the constitution doesn't exclude the Sunnis from full political representation nor deny them a fair share of the oil wealth from the Kurdish and Shiite regions. The constitution formally recognizes that Iraq "is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-sect country" and then guarantees the political rights of all the major factions, Sunnis included. As for oil revenues, the constitution stipulates that those would be apportioned by Iraq's federal government essentially on the basis of population.

And, no, the constitution doesn't presage Iraq's dissolution into Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni statelets. Rather, the federalist structure proposed in the constitution offers the best hope for accommodating the regional diversity and varied interests of Iraq's population groups while keeping the country together.

In sum, the constitution-drafting committee appointed by Iraq's freely elected National Assembly has written a charter that protects human rights, codifies civil and political liberties, bans discrimination based on gender, ethnicity or religion, creates an independent judiciary and establishes a federalist system that extends home rule to Iraqi Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis within a unitary Iraq. For good measure, the new constitution also explicitly pledges the government to oppose terrorism in any form.

By the standards of the Middle East, this is a revolutionary compact. Compared to the 30 years of Saddam Hussein's murderous dictatorship, the promise of this enlightened constitution represents nothing short of deliverance from evil.

Does it solve all of Iraq's egregious political and security problems? Of course not. No paper charter proposed for a country without democratic experience and amid convulsing violence and disorder could accomplish that. Building democracy is a protracted process under the best of circumstances and Iraq faces especially daunting difficulties.

Obviously, effective implementation and an enduring democratic consensus among Iraqis will be essential. Meanwhile, Iraq's interim government must persuade a majority of Iraqis, and the doubting Sunnis in particular, that the new constitution represents the best chance of building a free and equitable society out of the ruin left by Saddam.

Approval of the constitution is all but assured in the Kurdish north and the Shiite south, together home to about 80 percent of Iraq's population. To block adoption, Sunni opponents would have to muster a two-thirds no vote in three of the four provinces where Sunnis constitute a majority. That may be harder than some expect given a secret ballot and the strenuous efforts made by the constitutional committee to accommodate Sunni interests.

What the Sunnis cannot, and should not, regain is the whip hand they wielded over the Shiites and Kurds during Saddam's Sunni-based Baathist dictatorship. Sensible Sunnis surely recognize this new reality, even if the threat of terrorist assassination keeps them from saying so publicly. If enough Sunni realists vote, Iraq's new constitution will be overwhelmingly approved by popular referendum. All this gives the lie to the smug assertions in the West that Arabs in general and Iraqis in particular are incapable of democracy.

It also gives the Bush administration a fighting chance to achieve its overriding political objective in Iraq – creation of a stable, democratic government. Don't underestimate the power of that example in a region ripe for democratic reform.

 Caldwell is editor of the Insight section and can be reached via e-mail at

 »Next Story»

© Copyright 2005 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.