Major challenges facing parliament's third attempt to amend the constitution

[size=52]Major challenges facing parliament's third attempt to amend the constitution[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad/ Firas Adnan[/size]
[size=45]Parliament’s third attempt to amend the constitution faces a number of challenges, perhaps the most prominent of which is the identity of the Iraqi state, in addition to the conflict of competencies between the federal authorities, regions and governorates, with the governorates and the Kurdistan Region fearing a return to administrative centralization and limiting the powers to the federal government. A member of the Constitution Drafting Committee in the former parliament, Yonadam Kanna, says, "The paragraphs that involve problems in the constitution are multiple and do not relate to a specific subject."[/size]
[size=45]And Kanna continued, "The talk of some political forces about the necessity of returning to centralization and that the decision is within the jurisdiction of the federal government. We do not believe that it is in the public interest."[/size]
[size=45]And he spoke, of "great fears of a return to dictatorship, something that the governorates that are not organized in a region agree on, as well as the case for the Kurdistan region and any region that may be established in the future."[/size]
[size=45]Kanna explained, "The other issue is related to the background of the state, is it religious or civil, especially with a clear contradiction in Article Two of the Constitution."[/size]
[size=45]And he stated, "This article states, on the one hand, that Islam is the official religion of the state and prohibits the enactment of a law that contradicts the principles of Islam, but in another paragraph it stipulates that a law should not be legislated that contradicts the principles of democracy or rights and freedoms."[/size]
[size=45]Kanna finds, “The most complex issue is related to the dispute over the exclusive competencies entrusted to the federal authorities, in addition to the common competencies and what is granted to the regions and governorates, as well as what is related to the representation of the components of the diplomatic federal system in embassies.”[/size]
[size=45]He stressed, "Trust still does not exist between the federal authority and the regions and governorates, which is one of the reasons for not amending the constitution," calling for "to leave this stage and think that we are Iraqis, according to what Article 14 of the constitution stipulates, that they are equal before the law."[/size]
[size=45]Kanna continues, "Parliament worked twice on preparing the constitutional amendments, the first in 2007, and in time we completed the articles to be amended, which are 50 articles by improving their language."[/size]
[size=45]He noted, "These articles did not see the light because they were not signed by the Presidency Council at the time, and they remained in the drawers of the House of Representatives."[/size]
[size=45]And he added, "The second attempt to amend it was in the previous electoral cycle, and we also went a long way in preparing the formulations, but there were differences related to the lack of agreement on Article 140 related to the disputed areas."[/size]
[size=45]And he continues, that "a committee that was formed from representatives of Kirkuk governorate at the time was tasked with preparing an acceptable formula for Article 140, but this committee did not submit its proposal until the end of the work of the previous parliament."[/size]
[size=45]Kanna went on to say, “The solution is in the hands of the political blocs. The amendments should focus on stabilizing the language in order to be in front of clear and ruling texts, and thus we get out of the prevailing custom by repeatedly going to the Federal Supreme Court.”[/size]
[size=45]Iraq had enacted its first permanent constitution in 2005, and it was hoped that amendments would be made directly to it, but this attempt did not succeed.[/size]
[size=45]For his part, legal expert Ali Al-Tamimi stated, "The House of Representatives should put constitutional amendments among its priorities during the next stage, after completing the selection of presidencies and the formation of the government."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Tamimi continued, "The first amendment to the constitution should take place in accordance with the provisions of Article 142 of it, that the House of Representatives forms a committee of its members representing the main components of Iraqi society."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that "the task of this committee is to submit a report to the House of Representatives within a period not exceeding four months after its formation and to recommend the necessary amendments that can be made, provided that the committee is dissolved after deciding on its proposals."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Tamimi indicated, "The proposed amendments are presented to the House of Representatives for a vote and are considered approved by the approval of the absolute majority of the number of members."[/size]
[size=45]He stated, "The amendments approved by Parliament are submitted to the popular referendum within a period not exceeding two months from the date of their approval."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Tamimi concluded, “The amendment is considered successful if it obtains the approval of the majority of the voters, and if two thirds of the voters in three or more governorates do not reject it.”[/size]
[size=45]The head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Faiq Zaidan, had called earlier for constitutional amendments, especially in the matter of voting by a two-thirds majority, as well as with regard to the most numerous parliamentary bloc, that the right to form a government be for the winning list in the elections.[/size]
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