Top Shiite politician backs away from pre-election compromise

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraq’s most influential Shiite politician said Wednesday that he would not allow a new government to “change the essence” of the country’s constitution, despite a promise made to Sunni Arabs that opened it to major revision.

The Sunnis had been ready to walk away from the negotiating table last summer as the country’s Shiites and Kurds attempted to write a constitution that allowed the creation of largely autonomous regional provinces. Sunnis worried that this would split the country into three parts and deny them a cut of the country’s oil revenues.

Meanwhile, the United States considered securing Sunni support critical to weakening the country’s violent insurgent movement. Under heavy pressure from U.S. diplomats, the Shiites and Kurds agreed to add a provision that the constitution would be open to change for four months after a new government was formed. Iraqis voting on largely sectarian lines narrowly approved the constitution in a referendum in October. Then on Dec. 15, the Shiites, who represent about 60 percent of Iraq’s population, won a strong presence in the country’s parliament. The country is expected to form a new government later this month or in February.

Apparently emboldened by winning the referendum and the election, Abdul Aziz Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq – the most powerful group in the ruling coalition of Shiite parties – backed away from the constitutional compromise Wednesday.

“The first principle is not to change the essence of the constitution,” Hakim said in a speech on the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha, according to the Associated Press. “It is our responsibility to form Baghdad provinces and southern Iraq provinces.”

A spokesman for Hakim’s party confirmed the remarks. “The major points in the constitution were agreed to by all the parties that participated in the drafting of the constitution,” Haitham Husseini said in an interview. “As for changes in the powers, some points or details, these are open to negotiation. However, the main principles which were agreed to by all sides, and approved by the people in a popular referendum, they cannot be touched.”

While it would be a blow to Sunnis if they proved unable to amend the constitution, a Sunni politician said he viewed Hakim’s comments as a political play.

“I don’t know why Mr. Hakim is saying this at this time,” said Alaa Makki, a senior member of the Iraqi Islamic Party. “It’s time for reconciliation, it’s time for negotiation, it’s time for participation in the political process.”