| Every indication is that a final text of Iraq's permanent constitution just won't be reported out of the drafting committee in time to have parliament vote on it on Monday. Now Iraqi politicians are talking about having parliament amend the interim constitution to allow a delay of say, two weeks. In fact, according to the Transitional Administrative Law, if the committee did not ask for an extension by August 1 (which it was pressured not to do by the Bush administration); and if the parliament did not approve the new constitution by August 15; then parliament should be dissolved... ...Thus, according to the existing interim constitution, the plan of extending the deadline at this late date is clearly unconstitutional, and parliament should instead be dissolved and new elections held. (They have to be held no later than December, but could be held, e.g., in September or October in principle). In fact, holding new elections will require another lockdown of the whole country, perhaps the addition of a division or 20,000 American troops to what is there now, another 3-day curfew on all vehicle traffic, and all the logistics these steps would entail. In other words, even if they interim constitution was followed, new elections probably could not be held before November at the earliest. In the meantime, with no parliament Ibrahim Jaafari and his Shiite-dominated cabinet would become an executive unchecked by a legislature, and so a sort of elected dictatorship (there is no supreme court yet) for two to four months.... |
My high school Civics class could have, as a project, set up a better transitional government and constitution than the Bush-war Administration has shown that they are capable of doing. I guess Bush should have been paying better attention in his Poli Sci classes.
***UPDATE*** They've tacked one week onto the deadline.
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