Cablegate: Media Reaction: Iraqi Government, Constitution,

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BAGHDAD 004433

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INR/R/MR, NEA/PPD, NEA/PPA, NEA/AGS, INR/IZ, INR/P

E.0. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO IZ
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQI GOVERNMENT, CONSTITUTION,
REFERENDUM, NATIONAL RECONCILATION; BAGHDAD

SUMMARY: Discussion on the Constitution, Referendum, and
National Reconciliation were the major editorial themes of
the daily newspapers on October 27, 2005. END SUMMARY.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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A. "Habitude!" (Al-Bayyan, 10/27)
B. "The Battle to Alter the Constitution Has Begun" (Az-
Zaman, 10/27)
C. "Parliamentary Council" (As-Sabah, 10/27)
D. "Our Positions Are Meant to Serve the Nation" (Dar As-
Salam, 10/27)
E. "Iraqis Accept Their Constitution" (Al-Ittihad, 10/27)

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SELECTED COMMENTARIES
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A. "Habitude!"
(Al-Bayyan - affiliated with Ad-Dawa (led by Al-Ja'fari), no
bias, published this page-three editorial by Zainab Al-
Khafaji)

"The head of the National Dialogue Council's, Saleh Al-
Mutlag, negative attitude toward the referendum results
(claiming they were rigged) wasn't a surprise but rather was
an identical position of many Iraqis who are used to his
habitual attitudes. Why didn't he present a list of
accusations and evidence to prove the illegality of the
process?

"The political process in Iraq has been exposed to attempts
to inhibit participation by, among others, the National
Dialogue Council which has forgotten that its role is to
develop dialogue but has instead, become a source of
propagating accusations and suspicions in an attempt to keep
people preoccupied and to waste their time.

"Many examples of these attempts to raise political comments
are evident, they come at transformational stages. What is
really important now is to continue towards the next step,
not to go backwards and chase accusations devoid of
evidence. I don't think that the accusations of vote-rigging
are useful any longer. The Council endorsed the results of
the two provinces that rejected the constitution, Al-Anbar
and Salahadin, but considered the results from Mosul to have
been rigged.

"Their sectarian ideology cannot tolerate `yes' percentages
that are too close to `no' percentages in provinces with
Sunni majorities. The final results were indicative of Iraqi
interests in bypassing sectarianism."

B. "The Battle to Alter the Constitution Has Begun"
(Az-Zaman, independent, anti-coalition published this front-
page unattributed editorial)

"Following the approval of the constitution, the battle to
alter it has begun-the fight to restore sovereignty and
liberate Iraq from new delineations that threaten its social
unity.
The constitution was drafted in a way that makes its weak
points strengthening factors; it is a constitution that
could take many additional constitutions to define it.
Therefore, the battle over its alteration will take two
directions:

"The first is an explanation of the battle: Each article in
this constitution could require two or more explanations,
which means the next conflict hinges on the ability of each
party to interpret certain articles according to their own
interests and cause Iraqis to ask, `Are we really in
disagreement with each other-to that degree'?

"The second thing is a battle to correct words and phrases
that contradict the spirit of forgiveness and neutrality and
instead foment division and sectarianism. As a result of the
recent amendment to the constitution (shortly before the
referendum) the wounded Iraqi psyche has been healed and we
are ready to adapt strange interpretations such as those
related to the `Wilayat Al-Faqih' [the rule of supreme
religious authorities, e.g. The Islamic Republic of Iran].
We need to resolve the establishment of districts that might
be under the influence of neighboring countries [i.e. Iran]
in order to adopt an accurate implementation of federalism.
The battle to alter the constitution also entails
clarification of women's rights which in some articles have
relegated women to the archaic past.

"Certain parties have attempted to portray the battle over
the constitution as a sectarian conflict among the Iraqi
people, while ignoring the origins of the friction. The true
source of conflict is between ambitions and forward-looking
ideas to establish a modern developed Iraq built on its
heritage of civilized accomplishments, and other ideas
focused on old, limited sectarian understandings that are no
longer useful in the 21st century.

"If there is a conflict in Iraq then it is, without doubt,
between ignorant groups hiding behind sectarianism and other
ancient principles, and modern open-minded groups that do
not differentiate among people, based on religion or sect.

"The battle over altering the constitution should be
peaceful and civilized in order to change the constitution's
negative articles; in this way, the constitution will be a
unifying document not a document for sedition and division."

C. "Parliamentary Council"
(As-Sabah - Iraqi Media Network, pro-coalition, published
this front-page editorial by Mohammed Abdul Jabar Al-
Shabbot)

"According to our new permanent constitution the name of the
new parliament will be the `parliamentary council' which
equates to the House of Representatives; this is a beautiful
inspiration for us and for our elected representatives.
Elected members of the parliament are our representatives
and we have empowered them to speak for us. They will not
represent their sects, religions, regions, ethnicities or
parties but instead will represent us. I hope that voters
have learned and drawn good conclusions from their previous
election experience, and vote for qualified, capable
candidates whom we have knowledge of (regarding their
character and history)--we should vote for the best
candidates for our next parliament.

"The parliament's schedule will be loaded because those who
wrote the permanent draft constitution deliberately
postponed many pending matters for the coming parliament to
resolve. Personally I have counted more than sixty items in
the draft constitution, some are basic and others are
outlined in great detail.

"The most important thing about the permanent constitution
is that the legislative authority of the state will consist
of two councils, one parliamentary and the other a unity
council (article 46). The draft constitution stipulated
details about the parliamentary council but ignored the
unity council and left it for the next council to regulate
(article 62).

"This means we will begin our constitutional life with a
lame legislative authority and wait for the parliament to
define the unity council. Parliament should take about six
months to specify legislation for executive procedures and
the formation of regional laws (article 114) that govern
sects. This is why voters must be attuned to their choices
for the coming election-especially since new electoral
procedures will allow for a better introduction to and
knowledge about candidates."

D. "Our Positions Are Meant to Serve the Nation"
(Dar As-Salam - weekly, affiliated with [Sunni] Iraqi
Islamic Party led by Mohsin Abdul-Hameed, anti-coalition,
published this front-page unattributed editorial)

"Patient Iraqis are still suffering from the difficult
conditions they face-under occupation. Their rights are
challenged on a daily basis, their freedoms are increasingly
restricted, their cities suffer from invasion, their
families displaced and they are facing ethnic cleansing. All
of this is happening with the consent of the government
which is unable to take action while the occupation forces
insist on using violence and the destruction of cities to
mitigate the morass of occupying Iraq which is finally
sinking in.

"We have come a long way to achieving stability but we're
finding more obstacles restricting our efforts, though many
people still believe their suffering will end. Recently
there has been increasing concern about vote tampering and
there is evidence to support it. If these allegations are
verified it will only serve to increase the tension the
country is currently enduring and it will lead to our
rejection of the process. We are against suppressing
people's wishes or their abilities to determine their
future.

"The Iraqi Islamic Party will seize any chance to create
progress and alleviate tension-the party is keen on
accomplishing security, halting the bloodshed of innocent
Iraqis and saving the country from the chaos it has lived
through for the past two years.

"Therefore, we'll continue with our political and national
policy which is against suppression of the people. We will
continue to defend and demand the rights of our followers
which have been robbed by others. The announcement of the
results of the constitution coupled with detainees in the
U.S. and Iraqi prisons fuel our commitment to the promises
we gave our followers and our people. The Iraqi Islamic
Party will not relinquish national or Islamic principles and
will work hard, in spite of detentions, assassinations, and
the bias of seditious people in order to create a free,
independent, and strong Iraq."

E. "Iraqis Accept Their Constitution"
(Al-Ittihad - affiliated with PUK, led by Jalal Talabani,
pro-coalition, published this page-three editorial by Abdul
Hadi Mehdi)

"After ten days of monitoring and verification of the
results of the referendum, the IECI yesterday announced the
acceptance of the constitution by the Iraqi people by a
percentage of 78.59 %.

"Iraqis now have their permanent constitution, after living
for many decades under a provisional one which controlled
the country according to the rulers' moods and special
interests which were far different than the problems the
people faced. Above and beyond that, they did not know what
their constitution included or regulated and they had no
choice but to accept what was forced on them and what served
the interests of the ruling system.

"No party or powerful ruling entity in Iraq now obliges the
Iraqi people to accept the new constitution. Rather, the
opposite is true--it is apparent that the Iraqi people
expressed their free will on constitution day-October 15--
which was the first time in the history of Iraq or the
region that people were able to vote on a referendum, their
country's constitution. This was tremendously significant
for them, being governed by the ballot boxes and ending
decades of being forced to live according to the opinions of
others.

"The acceptance of the constitution was a victory for all--
for those who participated in the constitution and for those
who did not take part. Those people knew that if the
constitution succeeded and was applied, it would not only
embrace those who voted yes or those who rejected it, but
that it would envelop all Iraqis from end to end.

"The constitution achieved so much that all Iraqis can be
proud of. One such achievement was going to the ballot boxes-
-that is considered civilized. This means that the new Iraq
has no place for anyone who wants to force his ideas and
will on others. The democratic environment that is
prevailing in Iraq paints a new picture for those who
imagine Iraq as a country of destruction, killing, looting
and a place for car bombs.

"This is Iraq, the ballots, not weapons, governed by the
majority of Iraqis who say `Yes.' CONGRATULATIONS to the
Iraqis for their permanent constitution."

SATTERFIELD

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