Sunni party urges approval of constitution after late deal

KRT Wire | 10/11/2005 | Sunni party urges approval of constitution after late deal:

"Shiite legislator Miriam Rais said that the proposed amendment would be put to a vote in the assembly and that many Shiites were opposed to it, suggesting that the deal may yet be scuttled by the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite coalition that commands a narrow majority in the assembly.

'You can't say everybody has agreed so far,' Rais said. 'I can tell you, there is not much support among the UIA for this suggestion.'

Jawad Maliki, a senior Shiite negotiator, said that although the Shiite coalition had agreed in principle to the amendment, disputes remained about the mechanism for making changes to the constitution, with the Shiites insisting that a two-thirds majority should be required in the National Assembly.

It also wasn't clear whether the deal would win the support of the Kurds, who won virtually ironclad guarantees for their autonomy in the existing constitutional draft and have no wish to open the door to changes."