August 28, 2005: Iraqi Presidential Council Endorses Proposed Constitution, despite Sunni Objections

Iraq’s presidential council endorses the final draft of Iraq’s permanent constitution and sends it to the National Assembly. The constitution will be subjected to a referendum vote on October 15 (see October 15, 2005). While the proposed constitution is supported by the Kurdish and Shiite members of the council, the document is bitterly opposed by representatives of the Sunni Arabs, the ethnic Turkomen of northern Iraq, Christians, secular groups, and women. [New York Times, 8/29/2005]
The second article of the constitution declares that Islam is the official state religion, and that it will be regarded as “a main source of legislation.” It also states that “no law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam.” Clerics, therefore, would likely sit on the Supreme Court and would have a role in presiding over family disputes like marriage, divorce, and inheritance. The provision is considered an affront to women’s rights since most interpretations of Islamic law afford women substantially fewer rights than men. [New York Times, 8/29/2005; Associated Press, 10/12/2005]
Article 25 states that the Iraqi government “shall guarantee the reforming of the Iraqi economy according to modern economic bases, in a way that ensures complete investment of its resources, diversifying its sources and encouraging and developing the private sector.” [Associated Press, 10/12/2005] It marks a significant departure in economic policy from the Baathist government, whose constitution stated that “national resources and basic means of production are owned by the people.” [Constitution of Iraq, 1968]
Article 110, which deals with oil policy, states: “The federal government and the governments of the producing regions and provinces together will draw up the necessary strategic policies to develop oil and gas wealth to bring the greatest benefit for the Iraqi people, relying on the most modern techniques of market principles and encouraging investment.” Observers note that, while this section states that both the federal government and the regional governments will work together, a subsequent clause appears to contradict this. That clause states: “All that is not written in the exclusive powers of the federal authorities is in the authority of the regions. In other powers shared between the federal government and the regions, the priority will be given to the region’s law in case of dispute.” [Associated Press, 10/12/2005]
Article 115 of the constitution would make it possible for provinces to organize themselves as semi-autonomous federal regions, with their own distinct laws. This means, for example, that regions would be able to negotiate contracts with oil companies on their own and exercise control over a bulk of the oil revenue. [Muttitt, 2005] However, the precise division of authority between the central government and any regional governments is not clearly stated in the document. “All that is not written in the exclusive powers of the federal authorities is in the authority of the regions,” the document says. “In other powers shared between the federal government and the regions, the priority will be given to the region’s law in case of dispute.” Most of Iraq’s oil is located in either the Kurdish northern region or the Shiite-dominated south. The Sunnis, who have ruled Iraq almost without interruption since 1920 and whose communities lie predominantly in the resource-poor provinces of central and western Iraq, are opposed to this federalist political structure. [Associated Press, 10/12/2005]
The final draft of the constitution is missing an article that had appeared in an earlier draft declaring that it is “forbidden for Iraq to be used as a base or corridor for foreign troops” or “to have foreign military bases in Iraq.” [Asia Times, 10/15/2005]