Leaders try to change Iraq referendum rules (UN upset)

[Roland99]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/12815048.htm

Election rules hold that the constitution will be defeated if two-thirds of voters in any three of Iraq's 18 provinces vote against it - even if it wins majority approval nationwide. Sunni Arabs have a sufficient majority in four provinces.

But on Sunday, parliament passed a new interpretation of the rules declaring that two-thirds of registered voters must vote "no" - not two-thirds of those who actually vote. The interpretation raises the bar to a level almost impossible to meet. In a province of 1 million registered voters, for example, 660,000 would have to vote "no" - even if that many didn't even come to the polls.

The dispute over the rule changes threatens to deepen Sunni disillusionment with the political process.

"The aim of this move is to pass the constitution and impose it on everybody regardless of their opinions," said Saleh al-Mutlaq, the main Sunni figure on the commission that drafted the constitution. He opposed the final text.

When democracy won't fit to the scheduled plan, change the plan to make it fit.

[Roland99]

1. NY Times article with more info: UN Says Rule Change May Be Violation

New Rules on Iraqi Vote May Violate Standards, U.N. Says
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/international/middleeast/04cnd-iraq.html?hp&ex=1128484800&en=daaeb3ca7b293881&ei=5094&partner=homepage

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 4 - The United Nations said today that newly adopted rules for the coming Iraqi constitutional referendum appeared to violate accepted international standards for elections.

United Nations officials met in Baghdad with Iraq's Kurdish and Shiite political legislators who had quietly adopted the new rules on Sunday. The rule change would make it virtually impossible for the constitution to fail and has infuriated many Sunni Arab political leaders who oppose the document.

<...>

In the new rules, the legislators designated two different meanings for the word "voters" in a single passage where the word appears to mean the same thing. That set off accusations by Sunni Arab leaders and independent political figures that Shiite and Kurdish legislators were using an unfair double standard to achieve their goal of seeing the constitution passed.

"When there is a contradiction on two different interpretations within one text, that would become an issue," Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for Secretary General Kofi Annan, said in a news conference at the United Nations. He added, "Ultimately this will be a sovereign decision by the Iraqis, and it's up to the Iraqi National Assembly to decide on the appropriate electoral framework."

[Roland99]

2. Sunnis Threaten Referendum Boycott if Rules Not Changed

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-10-04-voa69.cfm

[Roland99]

3. Iraq assembly changes mind, defuses vote rule row

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2005-10-05T130918Z_01_DIT547323_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ.xml

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament reversed itself on Wednesday over rules governing a forthcoming constitutional referendum, interpreting wording in a way that should make the October 15 ballot fairer, the assembly's acting chairman said.

The parliamentary about-face followed a storm of protest over its decision three days ago to define the word "voters" two ways in the same sentence -- in effect making it virtually impossible for Iraqis to reject the constitution.

Objections came particularly from disgruntled Sunni Arabs who dislike the constitution but also from the United Nations, which said such an interpretation was unfair and did not meet international standards.

On Wednesday, and under pressure from the U.N. and the United States, parliament decided to row back.

Good.