Arab News Editorial

IRAQ’S Shiite leadership was ill-advised to hold back at the last minute from signing the draft constitution to which it had originally agreed. What was important about the agreement was not so much its content as the fact that it had been made. The horrific massacres in Karbala and Baghdad ought to have redoubled the determination of all parties to the deal to pursue the path of peace and co-operation.

No one is pretending that the draft constitution is ideal. Final agreement came about in part because of powerful pressure from the United States. Nevertheless of itself, it represented a triumph for compromise and good sense. The change of mind among supporters of Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Husseini Al-Sistani which forced the abandonment of Friday’s formal signing ceremony threatens to undo all that has been achieved.

What is in danger of being lost here is the wider long-term vision of a united Iraq. At a time when the country is recovering from the 20-year trauma of Saddam’s dictatorship, it is understandable that Iraqis have rallied around their different communities. But the future rests in a coming together of Shiite, Sunni and Kurd as Iraqis rather than as representatives of enduring factions. The definitive constitution will be produced by legislators after free elections. There can be no doubt that the Shiite community will dominate the new parliament. By then Iraqis will again be masters of their own destiny and will be able to resist pressure from the Coalition, whose diminishing role will be focused on maintaining security and defeating terrorism. The Shiite community will for the first time ever have a powerful legislative voice.

However the success of a Shiite-dominated Iraq will rest on the degree to which the country’s minority communities believe that their interests are protected. The draft constitution set out to reassure everyone in the new Iraq of their rights. With those rights comes the duty to work together to produce a peaceful and prosperous state. The fact that no one was entirely happy with the compromises that had to be made to hammer out the draft constitution suggests that it is a fair and honest document.

The danger now is that if all members of the Iraqi Governing Council do not got ahead with a signing in the very near future, the foundations for an equitable and pluralist Iraq will be undermined. The delay itself will already have kindled suspicions among the Sunni and Kurdish communities which will take time to dissipate. Now as Iraqis face implacable external enemies is not the time to stir up distrust. None of the country’s new politicians is yet well-versed in the demands of statesmanship. But the interim agreement for all its shortcomings was a notable joint achievement which should not now be thrown away.