Posted on 03/08/2004 8:38:20 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Today: March 08, 2004 at 8:25:39 PST
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's top Shiite cleric criticized the nation's newly signed interim constitution on Monday, saying it will not have legitimacy until it is approved by an elected body.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani said he still has reservations about the charter, hours after the Governing Council signed it.
"Any law prepared for the transitional period will not gain legitimacy except after it is endorsed by an elected national assembly," al-Sistani said in a fatwa, or religious ruling, released on his Web site.
"Additionally, this law places obstacles in the path of reaching a permanent constitution for the country that maintains its unity, the rights of its sons of all sects and ethnic backgrounds," he said.
Al-Sistani was referring to a clause in the document that effectively gives Kurds and Sunni Arabs - who comprise 30 to 40 percent of the population - a veto over a permanent constitution when it comes to a referendum late next year. Shiites are believed to account for 60 percent of Iraq's 25 million people.
The clause states that the constitution will be rejected if two-thirds of the population of three provinces votes against it - even if it wins a majority nationwide. The Kurds, who hold a majority in three provinces, wanted the clause to ensure that any permanent constitution does not reduce their self-rule region.
Al-Sistani opposes the clause because it gives a minority the power to block the will of Iraq's Shiite majority, and his objections prompted most of the Governing Council's 13 Shiites to refuse to sign the document Friday.
In talks over the weekend, the cleric signaled to the five that while he still had reservations about the charter, he would not stop them from approving it.
The interim constitution, which will be in effect until it is replaced by the permanent charter in late 2005, is not due to come under a vote by any elected body.
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Because that's what it's designed to do, idiots. It's a representative government not MOB RULE (ie democracy).
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