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# Posted 6:08 AM by Patrick Belton

READING THE NEW IRAQI CONSTITUTION: This will be a developing post, as I come across analyses and commentaries on the interim Iraqi constitution which was adopted yesterday. The text of the constitution is here, on the CPA's website. George Washington University's Nathan Brown has released an admirable article-by-article commentary on the text and drafting process, and Noah Feldman, who consulted to the constitution's drafters, analyzes the document in a lengthy interview to the AP.

Several months ago, the International Crisis Group had written a report about vexing issues hanging over the drafting process. And among the more noteworthy journalistic reporting, the Christian Science Monitor discusses the issues which hung over the Shi'i reticence to sign:

The Shiites, which account for about 60 percent of Iraq's population, had reservations about a Kurdish-backed clause dealing with a permanent constitution as well as the composition of the presidency.

The clause states that the permanent constitution will fail if two-thirds of the population of three provinces object. With minority Kurds controlling the three northern provinces of Dohuk, Suleimaniyeh, and Arbil, Shiites feared that the clause granted the Kurds a veto.

The Shiites had also wanted a council of five presidents in which three would be Shiites and the other two split between a Kurd and a Sunni. The interim charter instead provides for one president and two deputies.

The dispute was resolved when Ayatollah Sistani was persuaded by Shiite council members to drop his objections and allow the signing to proceed. Any further delays in passing the document risked upsetting the transfer of sovereignty from the US-led coalition to an Iraqi interim government on June 30.

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