Thursday, September 07, 2006
Heated debate as parliament discusses federalism
Politics
Officials in the dominant Shia Alliance bloc said on Wednesday they had completed a draft of their proposal for a mechanism by which provinces could form autonomous regions. Shia lawmakers tried to force discussion and a vote on their proposal during Thursday's sometimes rowdy session, but the speaker of parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni, angrily cut them off, saying he had not received the proposal. After he adjourned the session, he was due to meet leaders of the political blocs to discuss scheduling the federalism issue, a source in the parliamentary administration said. But Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the powerful Shia leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), has been forcing the pace, calling in recent days for Shias to form their own region in the south and for a vote on the issue.
Sunnis, concentrated in Iraq's resource-poor central and western provinces, are opposed to such a move, fearing it would seal their political doom by giving Shias in the south and Kurds in the north an unfair share of Iraq's oil.
Under the constitution, provincial administrations will be given a strong level of autonomy, including the right to form regional governments involving several provinces which will be allowed to set up their own security structures.
Sunnis, concentrated in Iraq's resource-poor central and western provinces, are opposed to such a move, fearing it would seal their political doom by giving Shias in the south and Kurds in the north an unfair share of Iraq's oil.
Under the constitution, provincial administrations will be given a strong level of autonomy, including the right to form regional governments involving several provinces which will be allowed to set up their own security structures.
