BAGHDAD, 12 January 2006 — The most influential politician in Iraq issued a veiled warning yesterday to Sunni Arabs that Shiites would not allow substantive amendments to the country’s new constitution, including to the provision that keeps the central government weak in favor of strong provincial governments.
Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI, said in an address on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha that provincial governments would remain strong in the constitution, which can be amended after the next government is installed.
“The first principle is not to change the essence of the constitution. This constitution was endorsed by the Iraqi people,” he said.
Sunni Arabs place great stock in their ability to change the constitution, one of the reasons Sunni politician urged the minority to turn out in large numbers during the Dec. 15 parliamentary election.
They want a stronger central government because the constitution now bestows most power — including control over oil profits — to provincial governments. The Shiites in the south and the Kurds in the north control most of Iraq’s oil. There are few oil reserves in central Iraq, where Sunnis live.
To win their support for the new constitution, which was approved in an Oct. 15 vote, Sunni Arabs were promised they could propose amendments to it during the first four months of the new Parliament’s tenure. The new Parliament is expected to be seated around the end of February. Amendments need two-thirds approval in Parliament and a majority in a national referendum.
Hakim said the country’s most powerful Shiite alliance would name its candidate for prime minister within days and, having dominated last month’s election, few expect its nomination to be blocked.
“We have a number of qualified candidates ready to take on the responsibility of this job,” said the leader of SCIRI, one of the two main parties in the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA).
“In the next few days we will decide who it will be,” he said.
Under the Iraqi constitution, the biggest bloc in the assembly has the right to nominate the prime minister, although he or she must win parliamentary approval.
Preliminary election results suggest UIA will have nearly half the seats in the new Parliament. Sources in the Alliance said its two main candidates are Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari and Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi.
