Calls in Baghdad to sidestep Kurds and change constitution

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Some Shiite groups are considering changes to the Iraqi constitution without consulting the autonomous Kurdistan Region as stipulated in the constitution, arguing that those provinces forfeited their right by holding a referendum, says a Kurdish member of the Iraqi parliament.

“After the referendum and the return of Iraqi forces to the disputed territories this desire for making changes to the constitution has grown among some Shiite groups,” says Arez Abdullah, head of the bloc of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in the Iraqi parliament. “Some even speak of sidestepping the legalities of it and going ahead with the changes.”

“They argue that because more than three provinces have voted in the referendum they’ve violated the constitution and therefore others have the right to amend the constitution without consulting those provinces.”

According to Abdullah this desire to amend parts of the constitution has been there for a while, but always considered too complicated to do.

“From the start the Sunnis have been asking for amendments and some Shiites too are of the same opinion,” he says. “But making changes to it has been always seen as difficult and complicated and the constitutional conditions stop such ambitions.”

However, making any changes to the constitution, especially without the consent of all parties and provinces, will be a violation that will automatically imperil the country’s unity.

“Section 4 of Article 142 of the constitution itself stipulates that even if the majority of Iraqis vote for a change it will not happen if two thirds of the people of three provinces vote against it,” Abdullah explains. “Article 1 also specifies that commitment to this constitution is the guarantee of Iraq’s voluntary union.”