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Iraqi constitution ratification vote, 2005

The people of Iraq are to go to the polls on or before 15 October 2005 to vote in a referendum on whether or not to ratify the proposed Iraqi constitution of 2005.

Article 61 of Iraq's Interim Constitution of 8 March 2004 lays down the rules for the approval of the proposed permanent constitution. The proposed constitution will be approved if in the referendum both a majority of voters nationwide vote "yes" and there are no more than two governorates (of the country's 18) where two-thirds of the voters vote "no".

The latter criterion was originally written into the interim constitution to ensure that the permanent constitution would be acceptable to Iraq's Kurdish minority. However, support for the constitution appears to be weakest among Iraq's Sunni community. Since three governorates (Al Anbar, Salah ad Din and Ninawa) have substantial Sunni majorities, it seems possible that Sunni votes could result in the constitution's rejection.

On 2 October 2005, the National Assembly weakened the second requirement such that it would only fail to be fulfilled if two-thirds of registered voters � rather than actual voters � in three governorates voted "no". Opponents of the Draft Constitution reacted angrily to this reinterpretation of Article 61 of the Interim Constitution. Critics had also pointed out such an interpretation reads the term "voter" different in both requirements; the first requirement is still simply fulfilled if it's a majority of the actual voters nationwide that vote yes. After much international criticism, the decision was reversed on 5 October.

If the constitution is approved, elections for a permanent government must be held no later than 15 December 2005 and the new government is to assume office no later than 31 December 2005.

If the constitution is rejected, the National Assembly will be dissolved and elections for a new National Assembly are to be held on or before 15 December 2005. The new National Assembly and new Iraqi Transitional Government elected thereby will assume office no later than 31 December 2005, and will continue to operate under the Interim Constitution. The new National Assembly is to be entrusted with writing another draft permanent constitution, for ratification in a second referendum, to be organised by the transitional government and held at a later date.

Voting took place as planned on October 15, amidst heavy security. According to Iraqi election officials, results of the balloting will be made public by October 19.

The source of this article is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

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