Multi- phase process with a referendum in April, 2004, technical- political committee to formulate Iraqi constitution
Iraq, Politics, 7/18/2003

Well-informed sources in Baghdad said that the Iraqi transitional Governing Council is intended to form a "technical- political committee" in order to formulate a new constitution in a multi-phase process that will end up with a referendum expected to be held in April in 2004.

The sources explained that there are advocates inside the council talking about the formation of a "technical committee" which will be assigned to draw the draft of the new constitution, adding that the accepted views concentrate on that "Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish" figures, members in the council will be members in this committee and other technocrats known for their experience in constitutional law.

The news reports added that three experts had received the majority inside the council for drafting the new constitution. They are Hassan al- Chalabi, Munzir al-Fadel and Abbas al-Khazradji, with each of them had presented directly or indirectly proposed draft constitution to London's congress which was held by the end of 2002.

News reports stressed that the new constitution will take into account the participation in the making of the political decision so as to ensure authority transfer and not to be monopolized in one of the state's establishments and therefore there will be a genuine separation in the authority and ensuring necessary immunity for the Judiciary in order to be able to monitor the implementation of the constitution in a higher constitutional court.

The proposed constitution is expected to be submitted for the "governing council" for discussion and then will be debated for three months for public debate among Iraqi political and social factions and then returned back to the "governing council" for final drafting before it will be put for a public referendum.

The sources expected the proposed constitution to take 90 days to be prepared and a similar period of time for public debate as well as for one month for final drafting, expecting that the referendum over this constitution will take place in April 2004, in case works of the committee starts by the beginning of September.

In this regard, the US administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer told a group of journalists that elections might be held in Iraq in 2004 in a step which is basically dependent on the speed by which a new constitution for Iraq is laid. He added he expects the new constitution to be approved within 8 months, which means that the elections will be held within one year.

Previous Stories:
  Okaz: Sabah al-Ahmad: we should forget Iraq's aggression against Kuwait   (7/17/2003)
  Arab National Conference and the transitional government council in Iraq   (7/17/2003)
  Washington suspends Russian oil contracts with Saddam's regime   (7/16/2003)

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