Iraq being encouraged to participate in drafting of constitution (20/04/05)

A member of the Iraqi Parliament said on Sunday that the eight-month deadline set for Iraqis to draft their new constitution is insufficient and predicted that the Iraqi Parliament would fail to carry out the task during this period of time.

MP Ali Adib, a member of the political office of Iraq's Dawa Party, which is part of the United Iraqi Alliance, told the Mehr News Agency that Iraq's interim law contains provisions for an extension of the deadline and predicted that MPs would be able to draft a constitution with an extension of the time limit.

Iraq wants the entire nation to participate in the drafting of the constitution

One of the other reasons for the delay is the fact that efforts are being made to convince all Iraqi groups to participate in the process of drafting the new constitution, he said.

On the alleged deal between current Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafaari and former prime minister Iyad Allawi to give cabinet posts to Allawi and three other members of his Iraqi list, Adib, who is also one of Jafaari's senior advisors, said that some serious negotiations are underway but the result is not yet clear.

Commenting on the fact that Adnan Pachachi and some other Iraqi figures had left the political stage, he said that since political activities are quite free in Iraq nowadays, such actions will not have serious consequences because every political figure or movement can participate in the political process in Iraq and open an office to conduct political activities.

He went on to say that certain groups had terminated their political activities because the recent election made some politicians realise that they are not popular in the new Iraq.

Source: Mehr News Agency