IT'S A PROCESS:

Sunnis searching for a role (Mahan Abedin, 11/08/05, Asia Times)

The Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) is the largest Arab Sunni organization in Iraq. [...]

The IIP remained fiercely opposed to the constitution up until the very last minute. It finally decided to endorse the constitution in the hope of securing a better position to revise it after the December 15 elections for a full Iraqi government. The IIP is participating in the December elections and is expected to do well. Increased IIP influence in the Iraqi government will likely put more pressure on the Americans and their Iraqi allies.

Fareed Sabri is the spokesman of the IIP in the United Kingdom. He also served on the party's leadership council in the late 1990s. He talks to Mahan Abedin in London. [...]

MA: What does the "yes" vote mean?

FS: From our point of view it is better than "no". If the constitution had been rejected we would have had at least another year of interim governance. The interim governments we have had so far have utterly failed in their duty to restore a semblance of normality to Iraq. The "yes" vote, at least, gives the Iraqi people a sense of direction. [...]

MA: The whole process seems stacked against you. Do you really think you can get two thirds of the new National Assembly to agree to your changes?

FS: I think we can reach an agreement through consultation with our Shi'ite and Kurdish brothers.

MA: This means you will have to compromise on some of your objections.

FS: Of course, this whole process is about consultation and agreement.

MA: As far as the main thrust of the constitution is concerned, which is to make Iraq a federal state, you are now resigned to that fact, aren't you?

FS: Not really. We have no objections to federalism as long as it is a form of decentralization. But we strongly object to the kind of federalism which seeks to make Iraq into a weak and ineffective state. For instance, it is dangerous to grant the provinces the power to control their own police and National Guards forces.

MA: Do you think federalism will strengthen centrifugal forces in Iraq? I am referring to the Kurdish north and the Shi'ite south.

FS: As long as the monopoly over the use of force and control over the country's foreign policy is delegated to the central government, we see no problems in granting the provinces the right to conduct their own affairs. If this happens, then Iraq will remain united.

That "of course" says it all.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 7, 2005 10:26 AM