The Iraki Constitution Is Approved

With global numbers that don't lead to much doubt, Iraq has approved its draft constitution today according to their governing electoral body. The global count gave the "YES" a 78% of the total vote and the "NO" a 21%. With this and with the fact that three provinces did not reject it with a 2/3 mayority, the constitution will become official. You can read the full news article (in Spanish) here: http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/312244.html

But before taking our usual optimistic look at things, lets dwelve deeper into the numbers and possible consequences.

The mayority of shiites and kurds voted for YES. Nevertheless, it appears that the mayority of sunnis voted NO. As a matter of fact, three sunni provinces (Salahedin, Al-Anbar and Ninive) rejected the proposed constitution. It was only the fact that Ninive rejected it only with a 55% of the vote that saved this constitution.

This means that once again, the sunni population feels that the government is not going to represent their interests well with this constitution. It also means that the fears of many analysts might take place since the constitution barely passed. What is even more worrisome is that 96% of the insurgent stronghold of Al-Anbar rejected the constitution. This mean that the non-Islamist insurgence could continue even with elections coming up possibly in December. And if this continues, then the occupation of the US will probably continue.

The road for Iraq continues to be muddy. At least though, they will hold elections and perhaps that government can finally resolve the grievances of the sunnis and maintain, if not a united, at least a peaceful Iraq.

Read what others have to say about this:
- In Chile, Bernando claims that Iraq is On the Road to Democracy
- Will the constitution really be accepted this this time?
- Carmelo Jordá feels optimistic that Iraq now has a constitution.
- Iñigo Saenz awaits sunni reaction now that Iraq has a constitution.
- Mission accomplished?
- Donald believes that progress is being made in Iraq.

Tags: Current events, International, In the News, News and Politics, Iraq