A step closer to democratic rule

By Lee Keath

October 18, 2005

Iraqis are set to elect a democratic government after supporting the weekend's landmark constitution referendum.

President Jalal Talabani yesterday issued a decree setting December 15 as the date Iraqis will vote to elect a new parliament.

Iraq's constitution seemed assured of passage after initial results showed minority Sunni Arabs had fallen short in an effort to veto it at the polls. The apparent acceptance was a major step in the attempt to establish a democratic government, which could lead to the pull-out of US troops.

Opponents failed to secure the necessary two-thirds "no" vote in any three of Iraqi's 18 provinces, according to counts local officials provided yesterday.

In the crucial central provinces with mixed ethnic and religious populations, enough Shiites and Kurds voted to stymie the Sunni bid to reject the constitution. If the constitution indeed passed, the first full-term parliament since Saddam Hussein's fall in 2003 will install a new government by December 31.


But the outcome could further divide the nation, with many Sunnis fearing the new decentralised government will deprive them of their fair share in the country's vast oil wealth. Large numbers of Sunnis voted "no" and some of their leaders were already rejecting the result.


- US forces killed an estimated 70 militants near the western Iraqi city of Ramadi in a series of clashes on Sunday, a military statement said yesterday.

Five US soldiers were killed on Saturday by a bomb in Ramadi, a hotbed of militants, the military said.

