Everyone in Iraq, including some Kurdish groups such as Nawshirwan Mustafa and his supporters, is against the draft constitution except for the regional Kurdish administration. There is concern that the constitution will aggravate existing problems in Iraq, create new ones and establish legal grounds to divide Iraq.Why are the central Iraqi government, Sunni Arabs and the US against the draft constitution in question?
The constitution has the potential to turn the separation between the central government, which became stronger following the provincial elections in Iraq on Jan. 31, and the loose federation into conflict after the US withdraws from the country.
Kurds are uneasy about the US withdrawal from Iraq because the US acts as the Kurds' regional umbrella. It is for this reason that Kurds seek to enter the new period with stronger legal gains before the US withdrawal process is completed. They seek a Kurdish regional administration that can solve its border problems and can protect its oil and natural gas revenue. Furthermore, Kurds fear that their strength will decline even further in the local elections slated for January 2010 and that Arab nationalism, which has the potential to harm Kurds, will continue to increase.
Referring to US President Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points, the draft constitutions of 2002 and 2006 stipulated that the regional administration would have the right to shape its own destiny. It was indicated that this right was granted to Kurds in Articles 62-64 in the Treaty of Sèvres.
However, the Treaty of Sèvres' emphasis was removed from the 2009 draft constitution after taking the reactions from Turkey into consideration. But the road leading to independence was left ajar by the statement that that the regional administration would have the right to shape its own destiny if Iraq's democratic structure was destroyed. The draft constitution also expanded the borders of the Kurdish regional administration (Article 2). According to the Iraqi constitution, the Kurdish regional administration includes only the territories of Duhok, Sulaimaniya and Arbil. However, unsatisfied with just these three governates, the Kurds have included the province of Kirkuk, the districts of Akra, Sheikhan, Sinjar, Telkeyf and Karakush (Hamdaniye) of Mosul, the sub-districts of Zimar, Bashika and Eski Kelek and the districts of Khanekin and Mendeli of Diyala. This means they want to Kurdify Turkmen, Yazidi, Shabak, Christian and Sunni Arab settlements as well.
According to the draft constitution of 2002, Kirkuk was the capital of the Kurdish regional administration. According to the draft constitutions in 2006 and 2009, the capital is Arbil. However, the parliament may agree upon another city as the capital. Kirkuk has become a symbol for Kurds. The decision of declaring Kirkuk the capital of the regional Kurdish administration has been postponed because of the uncertainty of the city's stability.
One of the most important topics in the 2009 draft constitution is energy. The new draft authorizes the Kurdish regional administration's council of ministers to make decisions concerning oil fields that have an output of less than 5,000 barrels a day and fields that started producing after Aug. 15, 2005. In other words, Kurds are determined not to share with the central Iraqi government any oil and natural gas that comes from regions under their control.
Kurds divide Iraq into two regions, namely Arab and Kurdish regions, claiming that the Arab region comprises the central and southern parts of the country. This means they envision an Iraq that is composed of two peoples. There is no plan to recognize others groups as a minority. There is an attempt to place everyone else that belongs to a small group, religion or sect, starting with Shabaks and the Yazidi, under the Kurdish identity.
The road to solution in Iraq passes through democracy. However, democracy is also necessary for Kurds. The search for a solution with a Kurdified Ba'ath mentality does nothing but increase uneasiness in Iraq.
Benzer Haberler 
