Rare calm as Iraqis vote on new Charter
Foreign Desk Report
BAGHDAD—In unexpected calm, millions of Iraqis voted on Saturday in a
referendum on a new constitution that is designed to reshape the country
after Saddam Hussein but which many fear may tear it further apart.
Insurgents fought gunbattles with Iraqi and US forces in Ramadi, west of
Baghdad, but throughout the capital and much of the country, voting
appeared to go smoothly and safely for 10 hours until polling stations
began closing at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT).
More than 15.5 million Iraqis could vote “Yes” or “No” to a draft
constitution proposed by a parliament dominated by Shi’ite Muslims and
ethnic Kurds. Sunni Arabs, who shunned the poll in January that elected
the assembly, were out in force this time round, making their voices
heard, mostly in opposition.
Sunni militants threatened to attack the vote, but while mortars landed
near a polling station in Baghdad, and several roadside bombs went off,
there was much less violence than the US military said might be
possible.
It was in marked contrast to the elections in January, when guerrillas
carried out more than a hundred attacks on the day, including suicide
bombings, killing more than 40 people. In hundreds of interviews with
Reuters across the country, most Iraqis said they voted “Yes,” with
opinions mostly split along predictable sectarian lines. Despite strong
“No” votes in Sunni areas, few officials expect the two-thirds rejection
in at least three provinces which would be required to veto the text.
“I came here to participate and not make the same mistake we made at the
last election,” said Yassin Humadi, 57, in the Sunni stronghold of
Falluja, west of Baghdad. “We will not allow the others to control the
Sunnis again”.
The run-up to the referendum saw a deepening of divisions among Iraq’s
ethnic and sectarian groups, leading some analysts to fear the
constitution will reinforce the split between Sunni Arabs on one side
and Shi’ites and Kurds on the other.
Most Sunni Arabs, the politically dominant community under Saddam,
oppose the constitution, saying it provides too much power and influence
to the Shi’ites and Kurds, giving them control over Iraq’s rich oil
reserves in the north and south.
Others argue the constitution could bring the nation closer together, if
more Sunni Arabs can be brought on board. One major Sunni party broke
ranks last week in return for a promise that the charter would be fully
reviewed after a December election.
Parliamentary speaker Hajim al-Hassani hailed the fact that his fellow
Sunnis had at least voted and would do so gain: “One community had been
sidelined. Now this community is taking part and will have a role in
amending the constitution,” he said. Election officials say results will
take three to four days.
Despite the positive turnout in most places, in the western city of
Ramadi, a Sunni Arab bastion, insurgents attacked US and Iraqi forces
and very few people went out to vote. The same was true in other
rebellious towns in the west, residents said.
And in Mosul, Iraq’s third largest city and a flashpoint of insurgent
activity in the north, voters were at first scarce as fliers warned
people to keep away. Attendance picked up later. The leaflets showed an
American Uncle Sam figure looming over a voter depicted as a donkey
placing a ballot paper into a voting box that is shown at the bottom to
be a shredder. “Stay home; Don’t believe in the constitution,” a caption
read.
In Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone compound, where the Iraqi government
has its headquarters, President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister
Ibrahim Jaafari were among the first to vote.
“I voted ‘Yes’ and I urge all Iraqis, no matter their different
ethnicities and religions ... to vote ‘Yes’ to the constitution,”
Talabani, a Kurd, told reporters. In Hilla, a predominantly Shi’ite city
south of Baghdad, one college professor, Aman Mehdi Jabber, said: “It’s
a new page for the future and something important for the Arab world”.
Ahead of Saturday’s vote, Baghdad and towns to the north spent the night
without electricity after a sabotage attack on power lines blacked out
the capital. Insurgents had threatened widespread violence during the
referendum. Water in large parts of the city also stopped flowing during
the day.
Three Iraqi soldiers were killed by a bomb north of Baghdad and three
more were killed by a mortar south of the capital. But despite those
incidents and the Ramadi clashes, security overall seemed to be holding,
with 100,000 Iraqi police and soldiers protecting 6,000 polling sites,
and US troops on call.
Iraq’s Electoral Commission and UN monitors said things went well, with
the vast majority of polling sites open. Ratification on schedule of the
constitution is a key plank in Washington’s plan to start withdrawing
some of its 156,000 troops. As the number of Americans to die in Iraq
nears 2,000, polls show increasing unease in the United States about the
war. |
