ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Region is reviving its efforts to write a constitution and, once again, debate is raging over whether the document should be secular or follow Iraq’s lead and adopt Islamic principles.
Two years after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the country voted to approve a constitution. Article 120 stipulates that the Kurdistan Region can have its own constitution on the condition that it does not contradict Iraq’s.
In 2009, academics, legal, and constitutional experts prepared a draft of a Kurdistan Region constitution and submitted it to the regional parliament. The draft, however, was never passed. The political parties have been deadlocked for more than 10 years and calls to finalize the constitution have yielded no result.
This year, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani is trying again. He has met with political leaders and a conference on Wednesday pushed the constitution into the news headlines.
Article 2 of the Iraqi constitution says Islam is the official religion and no law may contradict Islamic principles. The 2009 draft of the Kurdistan Region constitution aligns with Article 2 of Iraq’s.
“If we look at countries around the world and their constitutions, we see that they all respect their religious identity, and they announce their official religions,” Ali Bapir, head of Kurdistan Justice Group (Komal), previously the Kurdistan Islamic Group, said in the conference on Wednesday. He bemoaned that the Kurdistan Region was unable to agree on giving its constitution “an Islamic flavor.”
“Islam has led a state for 13 centuries with Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Zoroastrians. All lived alongside Muslims, and practiced their beliefs. How come now we have doubts?” he said.
In an interview with Rudaw English following the panel, Bapir said his party is completely against the idea of a secular constitution. “If implemented right, Islam is much better than secular rule,” he said.
Bapir’s comments stirred debate.
“That Muslim state fell. Now only Muslim countries have war in them. No Protestant or Catholic country is at war,” Fazil Mirani, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) politburo chief, said during the panel.
“We need to differentiate our political system from religion. The majority religion is the official religion, but should we have Islamic rule? Are we an Islamic country like Iran? We are a country with Islam as the main religion, and this should be differentiated in the constitution,” he added.
Mirani later told Rudaw English that the constitution should enshrine individual rights. “If this lady does not wear a hijab, she should be free, and the constitution will give her such a right. We cannot come and impose a hijab on her,” Mirani said, pointing to a woman standing close by.
“We [the KDP] are working for a constitution that reflects the people of Kurdistan, respects all religions, and does not prefer one religion over the others,” he added.
The Kurdistan Region is majority Islam, but it is also home to many ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians, Yazidis, Kakais, Turkmens, and Arabs. Minorities in the Kurdistan Region do suffer some discrimination, but the region also receives international praise for its efforts to encourage tolerance and co-existence.
The majority of Iraq’s Christians live in the Kurdistan Region and Christian leaders want to see a secular constitution.
“There is no future with a religious constitution. Religion is something ideological, it is very necessary to separate religion from the state,” Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans and head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq and the world, Cardinal Mar Louis Raphaël I Sako, told Rudaw English on Wednesday.
“A civil constitution goes with the reality we live in today,” Cardinal Sako said. “A secular government is not against religion, but it does not interfere in religious fields. They respect all religions and do not impose a certain religion on anyone.”
Yazidis, who recently suffered genocide at the hands of the Islamic State group (ISIS), believe a secular constitution is more likely to guarantee minority rights, according to Diyari Abdal, 23, a Yazidi from Duhok.
“We want a secular constitution, because Yazidi people are afraid of an Islamic government in the region. That’s the main reason they immigrate to Europe,” he told Rudaw English.
Public opinion is split.
An Islamic constitution would be preferable to one written to favour party interests, Facebook user Jagat Harki commented on coverage of the conference. “Implementing the principles of Islam is better than a secular constitution written in favor of a party,” he wrote.
“I want the Kurdistan Region to have a constitution that respects all kinds of civil rights and is not based on a particular ideology or religion,” 26-year-old Davar Mohammad from Erbil told Rudaw English on Thursday. “As a citizen, I expect a social contract that does not discriminate certain groups of society based on a different belief or ideology.”
He believes the Kurdistan Region is heading in the secular direction, aided by its strong engagement with the international community.
A secular constitution would not be in contradiction with Islamic teaching, according to AbdulGhafar Sabir, an Erbil based Islamic scholar.
“The Prophet had established a civil constitution during his time in Medina, where Jews, Christians, and all lived equally,” he told Rudaw English on Thursday. “I believe that the constitution should preserve my rights as a Muslim, the rights of other groups, and most importantly human rights.”
“I do not see why there should be an explicit Islamic Sharia constitution if all rights are preserved,” he added. “The parties and groups in the Kurdistan Region should come up with a compromise, to establish a civil constitution.”
A representative from the Kurdistan Islamic Scholars Union in Erbil declined to comment, saying they do not want to wade into this controversial debate.
President Barzani, who is leading the effort to finalize the constitution, emphasized the importance of every group in the Kurdistan Region. Speaking at the conference, he refused to use the label “minorities” because he believes “the beauty of Kurdistan lies in the mosaic and coexistence we all have in this country.”
“I want to reiterate that a constitution is not for one party, ethnicity, or group but for all the citizens of Kurdistan Region [...] Therefore, it has to reflect the opinion and priorities of all those groups who live in the Kurdistan Region,” he said.
